back to PSO Skills or Concept of the Game

 

Okay, let's assume you know nothing about the Call of Cthulhu game system. It's a fairly basic "stats and skills" system, simplified from 2nd Edition Runequest. Characteristics are compared to a 3d6 bell curve ... 10 is an average characteristic for an adult human being. No character classes. Get one of the character sheets at coc6_modern_sheet.pdf and follow along.

 

Primary Characteristics

 

• Strength (STR):  not really linear, STR 20 is more than twice as strong as STR 10. Is used to determine Damage Bonus.
• Constitution (CON):  health, endurance, vigor, disease resistance, etc. Is used to determine Hit Points.
• Size (SIZ):  sort of a height-and-weight value; and is used to determine Hit Points and Damage Bonus.
• Intelligence (INT):  as it sounds. More INT gives more skills for starting characters.
• Power (POW):  luck, force of will, capacity for magic.
• Dexterity (DEX):  as it sounds. Dodge skill starts at DEX x 2%, otherwise not too important in combat.
• Appearance (APP):  attractiveness and friendliness.
• Education (EDU):  the amount of formal and factual knowledge possessed. For modern characters, the EDU stat roughly indicates the number of years of schooling:  EDU 12 means you know what a high school graduate could know, EDU 16 indicates an amount of knowledge equivalent to a bachelor's degree. Let's pretend that any knowledge gained after 21 years of schooling is all "specialized" (since maximum EDU is 21, and Berkeley PH.Ds are getting their degrees at age 31 nowadays). Your character's age is at least EDU + 6 years.

 

The primary characteristics would be determined for an absolutely ordinary human NPC by rolling 3d6 for each stat. PSO player-characters are rolled up as:

 

• CON, POW, DEX, APP:  use 3d6
• STR, SIZ, INT:  use 2d6+6
• EDU:  use 3d6+3

 

Feel free to shuffle your primary characteristic rolls; discreet fudging is okay, we're trying to create firefighters and cops here, not professors at Miskatonic University. PSOs must have an EDU of at least 14 and a STR of at least 8. Human primary characteristics never exceed 21.

 

Increased age brings more skill and knowledge:  if your character is at least EDU + 16 years old (thus at least 30), add another point of EDU, and 20 occupational skill points (see below for uses of these). If your character is at least EDU + 26 years old (thus at least 40), add another EDU point and another 20 occupational skill points, but subtract 1 from STR, CON, DEX or APP (your choice).  No characters may start with an age over 49; note that a PSO would have to be at least 30 years old to qualify for lieutenant rank.

 

Primary characteristics are used in game play a couple of ways:  head-to-head (most often for Strength) or as a "multiples" check against a 1d100 roll ("You rolled a 22, that's less than three times your Education of 10, so you know this much about the causes of the Franco-Prussian War ... "). The "Luck" roll (POW x 5 vs. 1d100), the "Idea" roll (INT x 5 vs. 1d100), and the "Know" roll (EDU x 5 vs 1d100) are pretty commonly called for by referees looking to dispense information or useful situations when the players seem stuck.

 

Derived Characteristics

 

• Sanity (SAN):  more often needed in Call of Cthulhu games. Measures mental and emotional stability; starts at POW x 5.
• Damage Bonus:  based on STR and SIZ (there's a little chart)
• Hit Points:  average of CON and SIZ (so average of 12 for PSOs). One or two hit points remaining = you are unconscious. Zero or less hit points remaining = you are dying (conscious or not at the referee's discretion) -- heroic medical treatment can save you.
• Magic Points:  equal to POW most of the time ... POW rarely changes, magic points are used in performing some spellcasting. Spellcasting, you say? Not something that PSOs know about!

 

Occupation and Skills

 

"A skill ... is a somewhat arbitrary range of ability and comprehension ... ". The occupation chosen is reflected in the skills chosen for the character. Don't worry too much about the occupation -- there are no character classes. The character sheet will have about sixty skills named on it; many others exist, but the listed skills cover much of player-character activity. Skill rolls are made against a percentile die (1d100); sometimes the referee will apply a modifier appropriate to the situation ("Your Mechanical Repair skill is reduced by 50% as you try to fix the flying saucer, while being fired at! Roll the dice."). For the Sunnyvale Public Safety Officers, I strongly urge this occupation template:

 

 

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Public Safety Officer

 

Apply the pool of "EDU x 20" points to increase these occupational skills:

 

• First Aid (mandatory minimum 40%)
• Grapple
• Operate Heavy Machinery (mandatory minimum 25%)
• Law
• Psychology
• Spot Hidden
• plus any two other skills as personal specialties

 

Remember the bonus occupational skill points that come with increased age.

 

Then apply "INT x 10" points to personal interest skills.

 

No skill may exceed 99%.

 

 

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The template doesn't pretend to describe every kind of background a PSO might have ... but the personal interest skills can cover a lot of hobbies ("Sally has been with the California Theatre Center for several years, so I'm putting some points into her Disguise skill."), previous careers ("Due to my three years in the Army, I'm a fairly good shot with a rifle."), and cultural differences ("Johnny Nguyen knows some Vietnamese."). We have other templates for military careers, doctors, etc. etc. -- let the referee know if you'd like to have the details. For example, Air Force Pararescue.

 

You're not required to put points into all of the template skills, just First Aid and Operate Heavy Machinery; minimums are sufficient to qualify as a PSO (though perhaps the referee will take note of your character's "minimal dedication" in thinking about background stuff). A lieutenant in the SPSD would probably have at least 10% Law.

 

Here's a list of the skills, with some notes. The number after each skill is the "base value" -- everybody (in the modern-era United States) starts with that amount of skill. The occupational points are added on top of that.

 

• Accounting (10%)
• Anthropology (1%)
• Archaeology (1% )
• Art (5%) -- actually different skills for pursuits such as singing, painting, cooking, dancing, etc. There's not a clear line between Art and Craft.
• Astronomy (1%)
• Bargain (5%)
• Biology (1%)
• Chemistry (1%)
• Climb (40%)
• Computer Use (1%) -- for writing code, breaking into secure networks, etc. ... not needed for Googling!
• Conceal (15%)
• Craft (5%)  -- again, different skills; examples might include blacksmithing, barbering, glassblowing, drafting, boatbuilding ...
• Credit Rating (15%) -- affects the amount of starting funds, and also your loan-worthiness, the limit on your credit cards, etc.
• Cthulhu Mythos (0%) -- none to start with!
• Disguise (1%)
• Dodge (DEX x 2%) -- note that a Dodging character cannot attack.
• Drive Auto (20%)
• Electrical Repair (10%) -- creating, understanding, and repairing such devices as electric motors, older engine ingnition systems, burglar alarms, simple radios, household wiring, etc.
• Electronics (1%) -- creating, understanding, and repairing modern electronics. "I want to make a radar set."
• Fast Talk (5%)
• First Aid (30%)  -- important for PSOs (EMT rating required, thus at least 40%), and likely to get a lot of use in the campaign. A 60% level in this skill is one requirement to be rated as a full paramedic.
• Geology (1%)
• Hide (10%)
• History (20%)
• Jump (25%)
• Law (5%)
• Library Use (25%)  -- obtaining information from libraries and archives; internet access may help.
• Listen (25%)
• Locksmith (1%)
• Martial Arts (1%)  -- used in combination with combat skills (Fist, Kick, Grapple, Club, etc.) to increase the effectiveness of an attack. as appropriate for the art in question. We don't require separate Martial Art skills for separate styles; it's good enough to say "Bob has studied judo, tae kwon do, and has a brown belt in kuk sool won" and know what kinds of attacks are appropriate for that background.
• Mechanical Repair (20%) -- creating, understanding, and repairing "mechanical" stuff.  This skill covers carpentry, plumbing, fixing engines, welding up a steel frame, etc. ... there's not a clear line between Craft and Mechanical Repair.
• Medicine (5%) -- a paramedic would have a Medicine skill of at least 10%.
• Natural History (10%) -- wilderness survival, traditional rural knowledge, fishing for food, bird identification, stuff like that. Especially the wilderness survival part; this is very much an "Eagle Scout" skill.
• Navigate (10%) -- higher levels of this skill represent knowledge of celestial navigation.
• Occult (5%) -- stuff that is not the Cthulhu Mythos!
• Operate Heavy Machinery (1%) -- a primary skill for PSOs, used to operate ladder trucks, lay and handle hose lines, use the Jaws of Life, drive a backhoe or a caterpillar tractor, handle cargo with a dock crane, etc. PSOs will have this skill at least at the 25% level.
• Other Language (1%) -- each language is separate, of course. You can pass for a native speaker once your skill in a language reaches 50% ... but maybe not at your normal level of articulation in your own language! Note that the Public Safety Department has pay benefits for PSOs who speak certain other languages at the 25% or 50% level.
• Own Language (EDU x 5%) -- English for PSOs, of course.
• Persuade (15%)
• Pharmacy (1%)  -- a paramedic would have this skill at least at the 10% level.
• Photography (10%) -- understand and operate cameras, and develop film. Includes still and film cameras, digital cameras, etc.
• Physics (1%)
• Pilot Aircraft (1%) -- actually separate sets of skills:  Pilot Helicopter, Pilot Light Plane, Pilot Large Plane, Pilot Jet Fighter, Pilot Dirigible, etc.
• Pilot Boat (1%) -- rowing, sailing, motorcraft are all covered by this skill. Of course, the referee may modify actual rolls based on a character's background. It's not absolutely essential, but until you reach a Pilot Boat skill of at least 15%, you might have to make a roll just to come alongside a dock safely.
• Psychoanalysis (1%)
• Psychology (5%) -- used for studying persons and forming an idea of their motives or character. Often used to detect deceit, but a skilled or insane person may not be so easily "probed".
• Ride (5%) -- covers horses, donkey and mules; at some deficit, it also coveres camels, elephants, wagons, etc. (presuming your character's background doesn't extend to those areas)
• Sneak (10%)
• Spot Hidden (25%) -- a fairly important skill
• Swim (25%)
• Throw (25%)
• Track (10%) -- as in following the marks left by feet, vehicles, etc.

 

And the (typical) combat skills:

 

• Fist (50%)
• Grapple (25%)
• Headbutt (10%)
• Kick (25%) -- does a bit more damage than Fist
• Handgun (20%)
• Machinegun (15%)
• Rifle (25%)
• Shotgun (30%)
• Submachinegun (15%)
• Knife (25%)
• Club (25%)

 

Don't worry, there's some carry-over to other weapons ... for example, Club skill is used for nightsticks, billy clubs, small clubs, large clubs, maces, etc.; Knife includes all sorts of daggers, switchblades, bowie knives, etc. A few weapons, like pepper spray, use the Dexterity characteristic for making attacks; hand grenades use Throw, etc. Other combat skills exist:  Sword, Spear, Bow, Axe, etc.

 

Our campaigns don't use the "role playing" skills of Bargain, Fast Talk, and Persuade too much; points spent there are probably not too useful.

 

So, given the occupation template, and the base skill percentages, everyone writing up a PSO is going to have to put at least 10 skill points into First Aid, and 24 skill points into Operate Heavy Machinery.

 

How Good Is Good Enough?

 

From the New York Times (December 9th, 2007):

 

New York City police statistics show that simply hitting a target, let alone hitting it in a specific spot, is a difficult challenge. In 2006, in cases where police officers intentionally fired a gun at a person, they discharged 364 bullets and hit their target 103 times, for a hit rate of 28.3 percent, according to the department’s Firearms Discharge Report. The police shot and killed 13 people last year.

 

In 2005, officers fired 472 times in the same circumstances, hitting their mark 82 times, for a 17.4 percent hit rate. They shot and killed nine people that year.

 

In all shootings — including those against people, animals and in suicides and other situations — New York City officers achieved a 34 percent accuracy rate (182 out of 540), and a 43 percent accuracy rate when the target ranged from zero to six feet away. Nearly half the shots they fired last year were within that distance.

 

In Los Angeles, where there are far fewer shots discharged, the police fired 67 times in 2006 and had 27 hits, a 40 percent hit rate, which, while better than New York’s, still shows that they miss targets more often they hit them.

 

In Call of Cthulhu, your chance to hit with a regular police pistol is your Handgun skill out to 20 yards away (other circumstances not being present); your chance to hit is doubled if the target is within your DEX in feet. So:  the base 20% chance with Handgun skill isn't too low, even for a cop. And keep in mind that Sunnyvale is pretty peaceful. 

 

It's been twenty years since a Sunnyvale PSO has been killed in the line of duty; a criminal suspect was killed by PSOs in 2007, after five years without an officer killing any criminals. Sunnyvale is in the top ten "safest cities in America" list -- two murders in 2004, three in 2005, one in 2006, one in 2007, and 2 (so far) in 2008. Fighting between the Norteno and Sureno gangs led to the 2007 murder (a stabbing); the 2008 murders were a rather strange double homicide shooting outside of a gentlemen's club. For 2006:

 

Year	Population	Violent Crime	Murder	Rape	Robbery	Assault	Property Crime	Burglary	Theft	Car Theft	Arson
2006	N/A	98	1	12	47	38	1,356	269	880	207	12

 

 Back in 1988, seven people were killed by an enraged stalker at ESL, a Sunnyvale tech firm -- the city's most notable homicide incident.