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The Good: Those that enjoy reading settings and taking in beautiful artwork are certain to enjoy this product. The merger of Mythos with science fiction fits surprisingly well. Many of the spells and units introduced maintain a unique feel.
The Bad: Soldiers, occultists, Tagers (super soldiers), mecha pilots, and Engel (super mecha) pilots don’t mix well together mechanically or thematically, and there’s little guidance from the book as to how to structure a gaming group with these extremely varied options. The core resolution mechanic can result in a lot of critical failures unless modified. The alien Nazzadi feel tacked on to the setting. Some readers may not appreciate how unimaginative many of the mechanics are, or how poorly some of the options presented work with the setting.
The Physical Thing
This 288 page black and white hardcover showcases good production values for its $39.95 price tag. The artwork is gorgeous all the way through and is the main vehicle for getting a feel for the setting. The editing and formatting are both fine, though the side text boxes could be annoying at times. A useful index and table of contents result in an easy to use book.Be aware that Cthulhutech has already seen a few different incarnations. It was originally designed to be a full color product, and that shows. Sometimes the artwork just doesn’t look quite right in black and white, such as with the less than helpful color coded map of the different governmental territories. Since its original printing Cthulhutech has seen this black and white printing, but may now be found in color from a new publisher.
Under the Cover
The SettingIn the future our scientists will begin to uncover the principles of arcane magic and apply them to science, creating extremely efficient power sources and other devices that enable the creation of mecha and space ships. As we begin to colonize the solar system the Migou, ancient alien inhabitants of Pluto, will finally see us as more than tool using monkeys. They initially craft a race of “aliens” to send after us, basing them almost entirely off of human DNA. In the war that followed these beings, the Nazzadi, realized they shared more in common with humanity than the Migou and rebelled against their masters.
In response the Migou sent great warships to Earth and a new, even deadlier war began. While all of this is going on the Deep Ones, an amphibious race dwelling on Earth, have been vastly expanding their holdings and gearing up for a move of their own. Cults have cropped up across the globe, and it’s all the New Earth Government can do to hold it all together.
That is the basic setup for Cthulhutech. Players take on the role of three distinct character types, each of which can be either Human or Nazzadi (though there is little difference). Soldiers, occultists, engineers, and mecha pilots are the more normal character types. They have really nice gear and a little bit of magic, but they’re still basically human. Tagers have bonded with an extradimensional being and can shift into a very powerful combat form. This makes them more like mystical super soldiers. Finally, some pilots choose to bond with Engels. Engels are super mecha, organically based and, for those familiar, not unlike the mecha of Neon Genesis Evangelion.
The game runs into a major problem at this point, made worse by the mechanics. The character types simply don’t mix. The giant berserker Engels don’t fit in with ground troops or even normal mecha. If one person is a Tagger and another an occultist one will forever be stepping on the other’s toes. The way the material is presented it seems assumed that players will pick one similar character type, but this isn’t supported very well.
Another element that may not work for some readers is the Nazzadi. The Nazzadi are human, except they’re really hot, have black skin, and sport some tattoos. Their organs are in slightly different places. Culturally, they are trying to break away from their very short history as warriors and take up arts and other creative endeavors. They don’t, however, fit into the setting very well. They’re just sort of there, looking all cool and ready to kick butt. A reader could completely remove everything involving the Nazzadi from the storyline and end up with the exact same setting and results.
Despite those potential problems, there’s a very enjoyable setting here. It’s not deep or super detailed, but the merger of horror with sci-fi action works well. I’d even go so far as to say that people who enjoy RPGs primarily for reading, rather than playing, can find a lot to enjoy here in the colorful fiction and interesting ideas.
The System
While the setting is very enjoyable, I’m afraid the system has a few problems right off. Cthulhutech uses Attributes and Skills, where Skills determine the number of d10 dice rolled and Attributes add to the final value. When dice are rolled the highest value is taken, unless there is a set (4, 4, 4) or a sequential string (4, 5, 6). If so, then add the set or sequence together and take that as the value. This number is then compared to the target number or opposed roll to determine whether or not the action is a success.
Unfortunately, the game sets any roll where half or more of the dice turn up 1 as a critical failure. This means that when players roll 1 die they have a 10% chance of a critical failure occurring, and when they roll 2 dice they have a 20% chance of a critical failure occurring. It goes back down after that, of course, and the error is easily repaired by an interested GM. Still, it’s one example of the lack of care put into the rules.
Let’s build a character!
| Example: I’m building Verica Donnovich, an Engel pilot who comes from a family with a long history of military service. As an Engel pilot Verica will be one of the elite, but because of the nature of Engels she will only be able to operate her specific Engel. Verica may also have some mental problems later on, since the nature of the Engels is taxing on the mind. |
Character creation begins with players distributing 35 points between the six Attributes of Agility, Intellect, Perception, Presence, Strength, and Tenacity. There’s not much guidance as to what different scores actually mean, but I expect most gamers can work it out.
| Example: Verica receives Agility 5, Intellect 6, Perception 6, Presence 8, Strength 3, and Tenacity 7. She’s a commanding leader on the battlefield and easily able to hold it all together under stress. |
Next, characters receive 20 Skill Points to spend. They may also spend these on Assets and gain more points by taking Drawbacks. Unfortunately, both character options leave much to be desired. The Skill list certainly isn’t tailored for the type of adventures Cthulhutech has in mind and it includes a variety of extremely unhelpful Skills. The Assets and Drawbacks are no better, and it seems as if the designers simply strove to imagine as many different potential Assets and Drawbacks as they could rather than tailoring character creation to the setting. There is even an Asset included that has no rules, instead serving solely as an advertisement for a supplement.
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Example: I take Authority 4 (Captain), Famous Incident 1 as my Assets and Duty 2, Angel Synthesis Interface 1, and Code 2 as my Drawbacks. These balance out fairly well and I end up with a fairly high ranked member of the military who has at least a little experience.
For Skills I select Athletics 2, Bureaucracy 3, English 2, Pilot 3, Armed Fighting 2, Dodge 2, Support Weapons 3, Marksmanship 1, Security 1, and Savoir-Faire 1. This makes her a well trained Engel pilot with some experience dealing with situations appropriate to her rank. Note that starting Skills go no higher than 3. With so many Skills at 1 and 2 a character would normally encounter quite a few critical failures, and generally may not be quite as awesome as a player would hope for given the setting and situations. |
Species modifiers also apply. Humans get an extra +2 Skill Points and +1 to an Attribute while the Nazzadi receive Night Vision and +1 Agility.
| Example: I drop the extra point into Tenacity for an 8 and place the Skill Points into Savoir-Faire and Intimidation, for a 2 and 1 respectively. |
That’s it for character generation. Now let’s talk about combat! Combat is pretty standard in Cthulhutech, involving an Initiative roll followed by opposed rolls. One person attacks, another automatically defends, and if the attacker beats the defense roll then damage is dealt based on weapon type. Good to hit rolls can add to damage, and armor subtracts from damage. Mecha and large vehicles use a different scale of damage, which makes them generally inappropriate to run alongside ground troops. Actual damage is applied to a hybrid hit point / wound point system.
Mecha combat largely functions the same as personal combat. One welcome upside to Cthulhutech is that it provides a robust selection of mecha for a core product. Players using Mecha or Engels will have a variety of options, and while Tagers are more limited they still find a good mix of diversity in character Skills and techniques. This makes games of all mecha pilots very viable since players have enough options to select unique mecha and still not step on one another’s toes. While customization rules would be welcome, it wouldn’t be too hard to mess with some of the existing mecha to create a more unique one.
It’s worth taking a moment to mention how much I geeked out over the mecha and Engels. They’re beautifully illustrated, they each have a unique feel, and they’re exactly the sorts of things I want in a mecha game. The same can be said of the many enemy mecha and monsters, all of which are ready for battle and can easily be inserted into a game.
After all the mecha attention, Tagers feel almost tacked on. With only four types to choose from and no customization, groups composed solely of Tagers may find that there just aren’t enough options for them to feel unique. More support on the same level as that provided for spellcasters and mecha would have been appreciated, and as things stand some groups may just not have enough to work with.
Speaking of magic, a host of different spells are included. Spells are heavily regulated by the government, and most starting occultists will know only a few spells. Spells in Cthulhutech tend to be more like traditional Mythos spells. They’re slow to cast and often manifest power in a subtle way. Occultists aren’t well suited for combat, at least not without a gun and some military training, but they have a lot of tools for recon, intelligence gathering, and dealing with enemy occultists.
Support
There’s a surprisingly large amount of support in the core book. A good amount of setting information, plenty of monsters and adversaries, pregenerated NPCs, an example adventure, a host of different mecha to play with, plenty of vehicles, and even more material can be found here. It’s all well integrated with the setting and showcases good product design in how nicely it all comes together.
My Take
Cthulhutech is a game I will never play. The rules are boring, flawed, and fail to support the setting. The mechanical design strikes me as being more appropriate to a 90s game with its cut and pasted Stat + Skill and Merit/Flaw system. I’m also disappointed that characters begin as novices when the theme of the game involves piloting mecha in what may be humanity’s final war.That said, it’s a wonderful setting and the book provides a lot of support for the game. Plenty of everything you want, except Tagger options, and a lot of neat ideas that are sure to inspire. It’s an enjoyable read and, unlike many corebooks, offers plenty of combat content to work with over the course of a campaign.
