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CthulhuTech Core Book $15.00
Average Rating:4.2 / 5
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CthulhuTech Core Book
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CthulhuTech Core Book
Publisher: WildFire
by ERICK S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/31/2018 19:48:35

I purchased the PDF and hardcover premium heavyweight copy.

The PDF is decent, but it has a few issues in the layout. There are tables where the text is off, with characters from the beginning of a word found a decent way to the right of it: "Charge eam B", "Average r Ca", "Enduring ear F", "Serious njury I", and there are some parts where the text is actually under the pictures on the page. You can still select the text with a mouse and copy + paste the text to a text editor to see what the text is, so it is not too detrimental. The PDF in the initial credits shows "First Printing (Rev. C)" and credits Catalyst Game Labs. Past these few problems, the PDF is great. The content is great, and the pictures are of a high quality. I have no problems with the game itself, though I have not gotten the chance to play the game myself yet.

The hardback credits section shows "First Printing (Rev. D)", and credits Sandstorm Studios instead of Catalyst games. I have so far not seen any layout problems. This fourth revision seems to be complete. Print job: The paper is non-glossy, and it has some of the same problems with printing at home; the book is in full color, which requires a lot of ink and the paper acts like it has water damage. The paper ripples where the picture is the darkest, and there are pages (Usually on chapter beginnings) where the page seems to be curled in the wrong direction because of the amount of ink required to be printed on the page. Another issue is with the artwork; with the non-glossy paper, the pictures have come out darker, which reduces the clean contrast of the pictures between their darkest shadows and brightest highlights. This makes it a little bit harder to tell what the pictures are compared to the PDF where the pictures seem perfect.

Overall, I am definitely happy with my purchase, and I don't regret anything. There are problems, but that should be expected with smaller companies and smaller consumer bases. It is a good product, and worth supporting the companies involved in design, layout, printing, and distribution. It is definitely a good piece to add to a game collection/shelf.

While my expectations are low because of the dates provided, I do hope that one day they finish and release the second edition of the game; if they did, I would definitely be buying both the PDF and print copies of the game. The setting is simply fantastic.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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CthulhuTech Core Book
Publisher: WildFire
by C S. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 07/27/2017 08:50:08

This review is for the Softcover Color Book (Standard).

The CthulhuTech setting is fantastic. It's a terrific mash-up of all my favorite tropes. Lovecraftian horror, mecha, super-powered combat, kaiju... It's all in there. And yet, somehow, it works. Somehow it makes sense to run a game where you're investigating cultists one week, and piloting a giant robot the next.

The background descriptions and brief bits of narrative in the Core Book go a long way towards making this happen. They do a great job of paintinting the picture. They really make the setting come to life. It was very easy to get my players engaged with the setting just by having them read a few of those descriptions.

The rules themselves seem a bit odd to me, coming from a couple decades of Dungeons & Dragons. It's nice not to need a whole pile of different dice... But I'm still getting used to the D10 pool system. It works just fine. It's just not very familiar at this point.

If I were rating just a PDF of these rules and setting, it'd be getting a 5/5 easily. The print version that I purchased, however, leaves some things to be desired...

It's printed on non-glossy paper, which is a bit odd for an RPG rulebook. The fantastic artwork simply doesn't pop the way it could on glossy paper. And the pages feel noticably rough. I suspect this is purely cosmetic... But I can't help wondering about the long-term durability of this book.

A bigger problem is the lack of an inside gutter, which means the inner edge of the page is very hard to read. I'm having to very carefuly bend the pages back as far as they'll go so that I can read everything without damaging the spine.

I know that V2 is currently in beta, and I sincerely hope that these issues are resolved when that goes to press.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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CthulhuTech Core Book
Publisher: WildFire
by Graham M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/23/2012 21:37:29

I stumbled onto CthulhTech through an event listing at GenCon a couple of years ago and fell in love with the idea sight-unseen. I bought the core book and that instant attraction was reinforced. The book is orderly, well written and lavishly illustrated. There are many pieces of quality fiction to help share the flavor of the game and setting. And I don't care.

The game itself is more attractive than the sexy way it's presented. No, really, it is. The Framewerk mechanic is a fun twist on dice pool mechanics. The skills are well thought out and the mechanics work.

Mecha and Lovecraft may not seem like a natural fit but in CthulhuTech it works brilliantly. Grau and McKay have written a rich setting and sensible history.

Now for my complaint. Man, it is HARD to run this game and keep the stories properly balanced between horror and action. What make the setting and fiction great is the tension, fear and detail, all of which are hard to maintain in actual game play. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't it's only slightly above average.

I'd say CthulhuTech is money well spent, buy this game.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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CthulhuTech Core Book
Publisher: WildFire
by William G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/07/2012 06:05:36

Buy this, it's cheap and it is the single most complete setting I've read, and that says a lot considering how many influences are combined. It's simply awesome. Dice mechanics are unique, fair, and fluff-fitting. Plus it's like you're getting two games in one, future Call of Cthulhu and GIANT MECHS! It's awesome!



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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CthulhuTech Core Book
Publisher: WildFire
by Michael M. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/21/2012 15:37:13

This is an excellent game setting with a great deal of background material.

At first impression I had misgivings at game designers trying to have so many influences in one game.

Yet the developers did it, and did it well with great attention to detail.

You have anime-style (re:Guyver) over the top monsters and heroes in a Lovecraftian future cyberpunk setting with mecha, magic, psychics and more. I already have every book in hardcover. I'm gradually building up my pdf library.

This is definitely a must have in my book. Even if you don't play the system, I'd get the books for the setting :)



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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CthulhuTech Core Book
Publisher: WildFire
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/09/2010 06:02:35

Enter a world rich and strange - even the cover art suggests this even before you read a word! But it's stranger - and scarier - that you might imagine. The opening piece of fiction sets the scene: a heady mix of warfare, implacable enemies, fighting machines... and yet at the core human beings, maybe a bit different but still real people who care, who love, who hate... and have nightmares afterwards.

Then Chapter 1 bids us Welcome. Welcome to a near-future alternate world in which giant mecha, magic, technology and unspeakable horror are melded together mixing That Which Should Not Be with hopes, harboured by all who go to war, that better times are just around the corner. It begins by explaining unfamiliar terms, both those of role-playing and those specifically for this setting. Now obscure references in the opening fiction become clear - not, alas, the sidebar text, small black text on a strident and messy dark pink background is not conducive to clarity: rather a shock in a work where excellent design is otherwise evident. Many of the references are familiar if you happen to read Lovecraft - Cthulhu himself, and many of the cults and dark gods that lurk around - and others if you care for anime and mecha in general. It moves on to detail some of the sources that inspired this game, and which in turn may also inspire players of it. Fascinating, while many games give a reference list, here there are notes about what in the game was inspired and drew upon each work mentioned.

Next comes Chapter 2: That Was Then, This Is Now presents a 'historical' timeline starting about now, and postulating a future in which what we've already read has come to pass. Political bickering is commonplace, but who would think the seeds of this alternate future were sown by a translation of an ancient German treatise that inspired a graduate student of mathematics to explore strange geometries? A seeming golden era of new technology is soon blighted by alien invasion guided by a truly weird race, the Migou, who live on Pluto and feel threatened by humanity's rapid development... so create an entire bioengineered alien 'species' to do the invading for them, complete with a fabricated backstory about where they came from and what they want. These 'Nazzadi' eventually rebel and join forces with humans, while worshippers of unspeakable deities explore rituals to bring their gods back to life and corporations seek profit and a world government arises grabbing all control from everyone else... and out of this nightmare comes the alternate reality in which the game is set. A frightenly coherent account that just could happen, did the more mystical bits have any basis in reality.

The timeline is followed by more detailed discussion of the global New Earth Government - which is actually a quite enlightened one in which an individual is judged solely on merit, with none of the baggage about race, gender, sexuality, and the like. This moves on rapidly to an explanation of the current workings of the NEG armed forces, and next the Ashcroft Foundation and arcanotechnology - the science/magic fusion based on the works of that long-insane graduate student (who was called Ashcroft...) - are examined. Some claim the Foundation controls the government, they are at best intricately entwined. Throughout this part of the chapter, sidebar boxes contain rumours - if you can read them - which can spawn adventures or entire plotlines.

Next comes another organisation, the Engel Project. Only some half-dozen years old, its effects are already profound. Through arcane ritual and technology, they've developed the Engels - a fusion of human operator and living construct, made up of both organic and artificial mecha-like components. Due to the construct's innate aggressiveness, each human operator needs implants attuned to a specific Engel to control it adequately, else it can run amok! Then another major corporation is explored, the Chrysalis Corporation - which has the slight problem of having been infiltrated and taken over by a cult called the Children of Chaos with their own occult agenda. Using the ancient Rite of Transfiguration ordinary mortal humans are turned into shapeshifting monsters called Dhohanoids... and if that's not enough, they're opposed by the Eldritch Society who likewise wield occult powers in an attempt to get their own way! They also transform dedicated members, into what are called Tager, melded with transdimension symbionts to form what might best be regarded as a living mecha. Rounding up with a run-down of the Nazzdi, the Migou themselves and information about lifestyles and attitudes of the civilian population of Earth, the chapter presents an evocative glimpse of the world in which your character will live, a considered and detailed setting within which it is already apparent that a multitude of stories can be told.

Chapter 3: The Art of the Game begins to look at how it all works. Here is a wealth of detail about how storytelling, role-playing games are played. It's just a couple of pages, but one of the more accessible and clear descriptions of just what you are letting yourself in for that I've read in a long time!

So, onto the meat of the thing as Chapter 4: Framewerk explains the core rule mechanics that underly this game. It's a cinematic system based on d10s, with the basic concept that the higher the number, the better. Like any system, the fundemental bit is how you resolve the outcome of whatever action it is your character is trying to perform. All the rest is fine-tuning and explanation of how the resolution is reached. In Framewerk this is called a Test, which has a Degree and a Difficulty, assigned by the Storyguide (GM) based on how hard the thing the character wants to do is, and the circumstances in which the attempt is being made. You use your character's most appropriate Attribute as the Base, and then add dice equal to his expertise in whichever of his Skills is most relevant. If you have a specialisation within that Skill that is aimed at the task being attempting you may get a bonus die or two. Roll the dice and try to beat the Difficulty... but there are THREE ways you can read your dice! Take the highest single roll in the handful. Or take the number that's been rolled most often and add them together (i.e. if you rolled two 4s, you've got 8). Or you can add up the components of a 'straight' (run of consecutive numbers). Add the number you come up with - whichever method you pick - to your Base, and see if you've got over the Difficulty (but watch out for 1s, they're bad news!). There are plenty of examples to show you how it all works, and discussions of exceptions and variations, but once you've got this core concept you should be up and running.

Next, Chapter 5: Alter Ego explains how to create a character. Before you start codifying him in numbers, of course, you'll need to decide on the underlying concept: race, profession, which groups he belongs to or allegiances he might hold... which may be best discussed with other players and with the Storyguide, who may already have a plot in mind so will need characters who will fit in. But you start the creation process, once these matters have been decided, by picking your character's 'Defining Characteristics' - two things, one good (a Merit) and one not (a Flaw), that sum him up. He might be courageous but lazy, generous but irreverent... that sort of thing. Next, determine his Attributes - is he smart, strong, etc.? - the innate abilites and characteristics that he has, on a 1-10 scale using a point buy system, 35 points to divide between six Attributes. Then he needs to be kitted out with Skills, again using point-buy. So character creation is a matter of choice rather than chance. Some 'skill packages' are provided, reflecting the likely skills an individual in that trade might have, or you can pick from a comprehensive master list. A good 2-page summary is provided to lead you through the process, while the rest of the chapter looks at the fine detail. Right at the end of the process, there's a further point-buy customisation option called Cheats, where you can tweak virtually anything. Then there's a bunch of questions to help you turn the character from a sheet-full of numbers into a person ready to play. Summaries of options available and the mechanism for improving your character through play and experience are also discussed.

Next, Chapter 6: Skillz covers the skills available including ways in which they can be used during the game. Chapter 7: Qualities does the same service for the Assets and Drawbacks which you can choose to manipulate the points available for skill purchase during character creation. Learn how to make them a part of his behaviour and style rather than mere words on the character sheet. A good start is to come up for the reason why he has the specific asset or drawback you've chosen.

Chapter 8: The Way of the Future looks at the technological advances that have taken place and examines the sort of equipment, weapons, and tools that are available. Possibly the most dramatic development has been that of cheap energy, revolutionsing everything from transportation to manufacturing. But this isn't a just mere 'shopping list' of future tech your character can collect, it is a wide-ranging almost philosophical treatise on how such advances have changed society, and provides important resources to help in the creation of the 'alternate reality' in which your characters will exist.

All RPGs involve combat, and this one is certainly no exception! Chapter 9: Life, Death and Madness explores every aspect from conducting a brawl to healing resulting injury, as well as dealing with the consequences of illness and other natural hazards characters might encounter. A fight is handled turn by turn, with characters acting in initiative order, resolving each action they take when it is their go. Multiple actions can occur, but each character gets one before those capable of more can act again in the same round, and any character can take a defensive action against a direct attack even after he's performed all the actions he's capable of in a round (unless he's been taken by surprise, of course). Laid out it sound clunkier than it actually is once you get a few characters and try it out. There's plenty of detail here to cover most eventualities, and many of the physical activities - like climbing and running - that characters will wish to engage in. Mecha combat is handled separately, but follows the same general concepts, although they go to the repair shop rather than the hospital afterwards. As we're dealing with Things That Should Not Be in this game, there are also rules for fear and insanity. Gibber. Fortunately, psychiatric treatment is quite advanced in this future, so there is hope for characters sent round the bend by what they've encountered in the game.

Next, Chapter 10: The New War Machine gets to grips with matters mecha. Starting with the claim that the invention of mecha brought about the greatest change to warfare since the invention of gunpowder, the chapter looks at the mecha on both sides, and at the underlying components that go to make one up. The Tager are included, even though they aren't strictly speaking mecha but symbionts, as they work pretty much the same way. The components used in mecha construction are presented so that gearheads will find it easy to design their own, if they don't want to use the standard ones outlined here... and there are plenty of them!

Combat gearheads hopefully satisfied for now, Chapter 11: Blasphemous Whispers looks at the rise of magick, and the art of the sorcerer. To start with, the study and use of magick is controlled and licenced, and - as a short piece of fiction emphasises - you can get in trouble if caught dabbling without the proper authorisation. However, if you are content to operate within the rules, you can take magick courses at college and seek employment with the government or private corporations, just like those who prefer more mundane areas of study. Those who study magick are soon immersed in strange and ancient languages, multiple dimensions and long-lost dark gods. They'll find, of course, that not all rituals or magickal tomes can be obtained legally - the government maintains that those it restricts or bans are just too dangerous to let anyone have. And mostly that's true, magick is a deadly art. A collection of some of the books that you might encounter in the course of your studies is presented here in a common format... most are illegal, at least in their uncensored form. And then on to the rules for magick. It's all done by rituals, no simple handwave and a couple of words. Still there are plenty of things you can do, and a wealth of spells to acquire and learn... and a scary list of things that can go wrong during spellcasting!

Next is Chapter 12: Unspeakable Horrors. Now the Cthulhu Mythos has always been crawling with them... but in this future many such nightmares have crawled out of the pages of literature and legend and walk the earth, and this chapter contains the details the Storyguide needs to handle them when they do. Vile as they may be, some of the illustrations are quite beautiful, strangely evocative - unlike the boring mecha ones - but suffer a few layout problems sometimes obscuring parts of the text. Most of these dark creatures have allegiance to one or other faction, and there are some helpful hints for using them to good - scary - effect in your game, from the way in which you indicate their presence or describe them to the rule mechanics for engendering fear in the characters. They ought never to become everyday, commonplace, however badly you have decided your world is infested by them.

Introduced by a spectactular piece of chase/combat fiction, next is Chapter 13: Vehicular Homicide. Technological advances have revolutionised vehicle design, or at least, the way in which they are powered. You still have a range of transport devices from motorcycles and cars through trucks, bulk personnel carriers and the like, as well as those vehicles designed for war, though: and there are details of a sufficient selection to fill the roads of your world given here. Many merge ground and air capabilities, and weapons and armour are common additions.

It may seem that everything about the world has been described in considerable detail already, yet Chapter 14: Parting the Veil is marked for the Storyguide alone and launches off into the secret history of the world. The stuff that's gone before is the 'common knowledge' of the times, but not completely accurate... and despire conspiracy theorists, some of it isn't actually known to anyone: well, unless they're the Storyguide! So here's the low-down, who the various players are (especially the really powerful ones classed as 'gods'), secret places, other dimensions and eldritch power are all discussed. One delight is a rationale for why stars have so much significance for ritualists and astrologers... apparently they serve as rips or portals between the dimensions, as well as being the balls of burning gases which science describes. The sources and inspiration for this 'world view' are a cunning blend of Lovecraft, the Hebrew Kabbalah and Gnostic beliefs, and the authors wisely state that it's fiction and not intended to reflect reality or disrespect any other religious beliefs.

This leads neatly on to Chapter 15: The Honoured Guide. Some of the advice herein is relevant whatever game you GM, and other bits are specifically honed towards running CthulhuTech in particular. There's a handy checklist of what a GM needs to do before, during and between game sessions, which encapsulates what you're taking on neatly. Advice on focussing on the player-characters is followed by quite detailed - and useful - material on crafting good stories from the structural point of view: it's easy to have a neat plotline, but can be harder to deliver it in a manner that will engage your players over several weeks or months. Ways of handling this structure in the heroic/mythic style and methods of involving themes from the diverse inspirations for this game are covered, it's quite a fascinating read - and shows that blending anime and eldritch horror CAN work if you think about it the right way. There are many different stories to tell, depending on what areas you and your group want to explore, and there are plenty of suggestions to get you started (and to make me reach for the plotbook even before I finish writing this review!). There's also hints about designing and running the Supporting Cast (NPCs) and awarding experience to your players and overseeing character advancement. This is followed by Chapter 16: The Population - a ready-made bunch of NPCs all ready to go.

Introduced by a 'news report' (which incorporates some of the preceding bits of fiction) Chapter 17: War, Fear and Vendetta presents a couple of ready-made scenarios to get your game going, as well as some story seeds to spark ideas for your own adventures. The first is called Death and Victory and sends mecha pilot characters on a quest to retrieve an artefact of arcane power. There's plenty of opportunity for role-play as well as combat, including a neat way to ensure that players are comfortable with mecha combat before getting to the meat of the adventure. The format is crisp, with key points clearly given and significant individuals and events laid out, yet loose enough to allow the Storyguide to take the framework and run with it. However, unlike the rest of the book, this section could do with some proofreading, it's littered with annoying grammatical errors. For those preferring a game based around the Eldritch Society and its search for the unknown, rather than mecha, the second adventure Hot Merchantise is provided. Again brawling and interaction are reasonably balanced as the characters search for another arcane artefact, and this adventure is open-ended enough to serve as the beginning of an extended campaign. Both are set in the Pacific Northwest region - if like me you don't know it, Google Maps are your friend. Each story hook is designed for a different type of game, so whatever you fancy there should be something for you (or some scope to help you decide your preferences).

Stylishly-presented and with great internal consistency, this game is ripe with possibilities for all manner of play styles in a dark future, and is especially recommended if you like gothic horror in a modern setting with a spot of wild anime action, perhaps an unlikely mix but one which works surprisingly well.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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CthulhuTech Core Book
Publisher: WildFire
by casey k. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 05/16/2010 23:41:48

I only recently discovered this gaming system. Unfortunately the developers ran into some publishing issues with Catalyst Games and still have not found a new publisher so the hard copies of these books are getting ridiculously expensive. Thankfully DriveThru is now offering these books for download and they are inexpensive.

Now on to the good stuff.

So far I love the system. It is a very interesting variation on a D10 System that is really strange at first, but once you get in the full swing of things it is pretty awesome. Combat can be clunky at times and the base rules state you should roll Initiative every round, but after a few minor tweaks my regular gaming group and I have really found enjoyment in doing something different for a change. We were getting sick of the d10 system that White Wolf uses and d20 also gets old after awhile.

The setting is fantastic! One can really tell that the creative team behind this has a love for gaming and storytelling. There is something for every one available from this game. If you want to run a old fashioned Cthulhu game of Horror and Suspense and of course Insanity you can! On the flip side if you want to run a futuristic Sci-Fi run and gun with Mecha that is available as well. Or if you want to do something in between it works way better than you would ever expect.

There is no way that Mecha, Sorcery, Psychics, and Chulhu should blend together this well, but it does. and it works really really well.

If you and your gaming group are looking for something completely different, love blending a few different genre's together than I truly think you should give this game a shot. With a rich and detailed history and 4 excellent supplements already out for it, and 2 more waiting for publishing, you can't go wrong with C-tech.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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CthulhuTech Core Book
Publisher: WildFire
by Stu V. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 04/27/2010 11:31:22

Looks like a very interesting setting, and at some point I'll try running a game (though I haven't yet). I really like the idea of combining giant mechs, aliens and the creeping horrors of Lovecraft.

Only question I can't answer yet: can I shoot at a Great Old One in CthulhuTech and expect any chance of survival?

The artwork is awesome, and there are a few short stories throughout the book that really give you a good grasp of the setting.

Can't wait to play it.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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