CthulhuTech by Ettin

I Hope You Liked Evangelion

• The Children of Chaos are a cult of Nyarlathotep and have taken over the Chrysalis Corporation.
  
• Zoanoids Dhohanoids are their elite agents, mortals who can shapeshift into monsters.
  
• Engels are the NEG's living mecha, part machine and part monster. Each one has its own chosen pilot. (This is the Evangelion bit. )
  
• The Esoteric Order of Dagon is the Cult of Cthulhu. They are mostly Deep Ones and are trying to find R'lyeh.
  
• Magic is real! If you dabble in it you're a Magician, if you're serious about it you're a Sorcerer.
  
• Guyvers Tagers are the warriors of the Eldritch Society who can shapeshift into monsters and fight the Children of Chaos and their Dhohanoids.
  

1. Lovecraft.
   
2. Anime.
   

A Dark History Of A Grimdark World Of Terrible Bleakness That Is Also Grim And Dark

The NEG Is Kind Of A Shitty Place

Framewerk

• Work out what skill you're going to use. Your Base is the attribute keyed to that skill and your Dice is is your level of Expertise in the skill (on a scale of 1 to 5).
  
• Your GM Storyguide works out the Degree and Difficulty for the Test from this table:
  
  

  pre:

  Degree           Difficulties   Standard
  Easy             7-9            8
  Average          10-14          12
  Challenging      15-19          16
  Hard             20-25          22
  Incredibly Hard  26-31          28
  Legendary        32+            34
  

  Each Degree is just a range, because some Easy tests might be better than others, but most of the time the Storyteller is encouraged to just use the Standard because it's faster.
  
  
• Take a bunch of d10s, as many as your Dice , and roll dem bones, then do one of these:
  
  1. Take the highest number you rolled.
     
  2. If you rolled the highest set of multiples, you can add them together. (a 6, 4, 4 on a 3d10 means you can take the two 4s and add them for a result of 8.)
     
  3. On three or more dice, you can take the largest straight (of three or more numbers) and add them together. a 9, 4, 6, 5 on a 4d10 is a straight of 4+5+6 = 15.
     
  So, it's like dice having sex with poker.
  
• Add your Base to this result.
  
• If you tie or beat the Difficulty, you win!
  

Difference  Margin
1-2         Near Failure or Success
3-4         Average Success or Failure
5-6         Solid Success or Definite Failure
7-9         Like a Pro or Like a Complete Idiot
10          Critical Success or just a Definitive Failure

Character Creation

• The NEG , which could mean all kinds of stories from soldiers to mecha to researchers to special forces and more. No Tagers, though.
  
• The Engel Project , meaning high-stress mecha battles.
  
• The Eldritch Society , who have Tagers and fight a shadow war against the Dhohanoids. Paul picks this one in advance.
  

• Arcanotechnician , the smart guys who work on D-Engines and mecha while trying to maintain their sanity;
  
• Engel Pilot , the NEG's elite mecha force;
  
• Intelligence Agent , who infiltrate cults, gather military intel or do counter-espionage;
  
• Mecha Pilot , like Engel Pilot but not as awesome;
  
• Occult Scholar , who study occult secrets and sorcery;
  
• Soldier , anyone who just fights without a mecha;
  
• Tager , the holy warriors of the Eldritch Society.
  

• Fred makes Athena Darkroad , a Tager who narrowly escaped the rape camps when the EOD attacked her coastal town. She became a Tager to avenge her slaughtered parents and as long as there is any good left in this world, she will fight for it. (Fred is into paladins.) Her Virtue is Courageous and her Flaw is Insecure .
  
• Inspired by that sexy Nazzadi art and some magical girl anime Charles rolls Namy-chan, a beautiful redhead teenage Nazzadi prodigy who "geeks out" over nerdy stuff and cool tech. He begins to write up two pages of backstory. When the Storyguide reminds him, he says her Virtue is Genki and her Flaw is Impatient .
  
• Dexter rolls Ryu Foxfire, an ex-con who fled to America after escaping the Rapine Storm in south-east Asia. He freelances for the Eldritch Society because he is a lone wolf at heart, and he is an ex-criminal because Dexter heard Fred's making a paladin and he's kind of an asshole. His Virtue is Self-Confident and his Flaw is Loner .
  
• Ward makes Angus Stallman , a nerdy college student who learned about magic from the /o/ccult section of 4chan and was recruited by the Eldritch Society as an intern. Paul makes a face as Ward describes a character who sounds suspiciously like Ward only less fat. His Virtue is Tolerant and his Flaw is Pervert .
  
• Robert makes Kai Bachika , a hot-blooded and manly cop. On the job, the chief threatens to take this loose cannon's badge away every other week. Most recently, he somehow caused an eleven-car pile-up inside an arcology despite everyone using the monorail. His Virtue is Hot-Blooded and his Flaw is also Hot-Blooded .
  

• Agility : Now that I've made this list, a thought occurs.
  
• Intellect : You can tell what these are reading the name can't you?
  
• Perception : Well that was a waste of a bunch of BBcode tags.
  
• Presence : Oh! Presence is "charm, beauty, force of perrsonality, and social ability". Presence does not necessarily equal beauty.
  
• Strength : By the way, I made up "Pervert". You can sigh in relief now.
  
• Tenacity : Endurance, stamina and willpower. It's used in magic too!
  

• Humans get +1 to any Attribute of their choice and +2 skill points.
  
• Nazzadi get +1 Agility and, er, Nightvision.
  

• Athena Darkroad is a Tager, and Tagers need a minimum Tenacity of 7 to survive the Rite of Sacred Union. We are also recommended Agility. Fred takes the sample attributes for Agility 7, Intellect 5, Perception 6, Presence 5, Strength 6 and Tenacity 7.
  
• Namy-chan the Arcanotechnician is recommended Intellect and Tenacity but has no requirements. Unfortunately, as a sexy Nazzadi teenager, that +1 goes into Agility. Whoops! She also takes the sample attributes but boosts Presence a touch at the expense of Perception, because she's so kawaii. Agility 6, Intellect 7, Perception 5, Presence 6, Strength 5 and Tenacity 7. The sample Human array has Agility 5 and Intellect 8 and not moving a point of Agility into Intellect and letting the Nazzadi boost cover it is dumb, but whatever, let's waste that attribute point!
  
• Ryu Foxfire is an Intelligence Agent and they are recommended Perception and Intellect. The sample array puts his human bonus into Presence, for some reason, so he moves that to Perception instead. Then, he takes another point off Presence and into Agility because he's a lone wolf ninja. Roleplaying! Agility 6, Intellect 7, Perception 8, Presence 4, Strength 5, Tenacity 6.
  
• Angus Stallman is an Occult Scholar, which use Intellect and Tenacity. The sample array puts a 7 and 8 into those, but fuck that noise, Ward is PLAYING A MOTHERFUCKING WIZARD. He dumps Cha Presence and Strength Strength and drops Perception to pump those up to 9. Agility 5, Intellect 9, Perception 5, Presence 4, Strength 4, Tenacity 9.
  
• Kai Bachika needs Attributes for being hot-blooded, manly and, if possible, shirtless. He's a Soldier, which means Rob is recommended Perception and Tenacity. SOUNDS HOT-BLOODED TO ME! He also reasons Presence must be the shirtless stat and takes a point off Intellect in the standard array for Agility 6, Intellect 4, Perception 7, Presence 6, Strength 6, Tenacity 7 .
  

Mad Skills

     Athena Darkroad
    
    (Fred). Agility 7, Intellect 5, Perception 6, Presence 5, Strength 6, Tenacity 7. Courageous/Insecure
   


     Namy-chan
    
    (Charles).    Agility 6, Intellect 7, Perception 5, Presence 6, Strength 5, Tenacity 7. Genki/Impatient
   


     Ryu Foxfire
    
    (Dexter).   Agility 6, Intellect 7, Perception 8, Presence 4, Strength 5, Tenacity 6. Self-Confident/Loner
   


     Angus Stallman
    
    (Ward).  Agility 5, Intellect 9, Perception 5, Presence 4, Strength 4, Tenacity 9. Tolerant/Pervert
   


     Kai Bachika
    
    (Robert).   Agility 6, Intellect 4, Perception 7, Presence 6, Strength 6, Tenacity 7. Double Hot-Blooded
   

• Arcanotechnician is for physical work, repairing mecha and calibrating D-Engines and so on, while Arcanotech Engineering is theoretical and design work. To take ranks in one, you need Adept in Literacy and two skills. Each one has different skills.
  
• Armorer is for maintaining, repairing and making weapons and armour. Technician can be used to diagnose and repair mechanical systems, electrical systems, electronic systems or computer systems. It can do all this at the same time, but Armorer has to be a seperate skill because apparently Technician requires Education and some Soldiers don't have that!
  
• Artist and Performance are seperate skills. Artist is the skill the picture of what appear to be Nazzadi "dancers" is next to. Also, you have to choose a form of art when you take the Artist skill. One of them is Writing, but there is a seperate Literacy skill which lets you be an accomplished author. Take both, be a double author.
  
• Apparently, at Communications (Student) you can make a cell phone call or "set the frequency on a radio transceiver". It's marked as a Professional skill, so you can't use it untrained. If I wanted to be a dick, I could read that as meaning only professionals in 2080s NEG can use cell phones.
  
• Student Computers is used to understand spreadsheets and word processors.
  
• Criminal is for lock picking, disabling alarms, hotwiring vehicles and other physical criminal activities. Larceny is for "cerebral" ones like embezzlement, forgert, cons and money laundering.
  
• Education just represents your level of "formal academic training". Student is vocational training, Novice is an Associates Degree, Adept is Bachelor's, Expert is Master's and Master is Ph.D.
  
• It is technically possible to take Master Education for a Ph.D. in Engineering and then Student in Engineering, giving you "the basic tools necessary to grasp less intricate engineering concepts". And a Ph.D. in Engineering.
  
• On the other hand, you can take Adept History and be "a true Historian who conducts ongoing historical research" and not need any Education at all. I blame Wikipedia.
  
• Hobby is... well.
  

  quote:

  Everyone needs a break now and then from having to fight the nightmarish fiends trying to eradicate mortal life. Realizing this, you’ve decided to take up a hobby to help relax in your spare time. Your hobby could be model building, gaming, darts, beer drinking, cocktail mixing, gardening, cooking, stage magic, coed naked twister , or any other activity not covered by other skills. Select one hobby for each level of skill mastery. Having a good hobby always makes your Character a well-rounded individual and your Storyguide may allow you to use your Character’s Hobby skill as a Complimentary Skill.
  Student: You have a hobby. Good for you.
  Novice: You have two hobbies – even better.
  Adept: You have three hobbies. You must be fun at parties.
  Expert: You have four hobbies and serious time management issues.
  Master: You have five hobbies and you obviously don’t work for a living.

  
  
  
• Languages has things like "Engineering Jargon" as a specialization for more cross-skill fun times!
  
• At Adept Literacy, "You know what The Portrait of Dorian Gray is about and who wrote it." Well duh, Douglas Adams.
  
• Intimidate is intimidate, Misdirect is lying, Persuade is persuading, Seduction is a different kind of persuading, and Savoir-Faire is etiquette and social customs (which is different from Culture).
  
• Munitions is for huge weapons like mecha laser cannons. You need Adept Technician to build a weapon and Adept Engineering to design it though.
  
• Occult rolls are used in magic!
  
• One rank in Pilot means you can pilot one vehicle, two ranks is two vehicles, and so on. Wheeled Vehicles and A-Pod Personal Hovercraft are vehicle classes, which means you need at least two ranks to pilot an Engel and drive home afterward.
  
• Regional Knowledge with a specialisation in Mag-Lev Train Schedules is a thing.
  
• Earth Science, Life Science and Physical Science are all different sciences. A rank of Student means you've "taken a few college level [science] courses and possess a rudimentary knowledge of basic scientific concepts". It is still possible to do that and get a Ph.D. with Education.
  
• Security, among other things, lets you set security alarm systems and traps. And also circumvent them. Take Criminal, and double circumvent them.
  
• Surveillance is for gathering intel on someone or some place. So, basically, the stalking and stakeout skill. There's a skill for this.
  
• Trivia is another catch-all:
  
  

  quote:

  You are well rounded in your knowledge of miscellaneous subjects. Everyone picks up a plethora of random information as they go through life and you’re no exception. After all, your knowledge of Classic Movies might not help you wipe out a cadre of Deep Ones, but it will make you interesting at parties. You can possess trivial knowledge of broad subjects, such as 20th century cars, and specialize in a tighter area, such as American manufacturers. Choose a broad area of Trivia for each level of skill you have.
  Student: You are knowledgeable in one Trivia category, making you curious about the world around you.
  Novice: You are knowledgeable in two Trivia categories, making you well rounded.
  Adept: You are knowledgeable in three Trivia categories, making you a witty character to converse with.
  Expert: You are knowledgeable in four Trivia categories, making you a great game show contestant.
  Master: You are knowledgeable in five Trivia categories, making you wonder why you don’t have a girlfriend.

• Armed Fighting is for meleeing with manufactured or improvised weapons, as well as Engel or Mecha Close Quarters Weapon Systems.
  
• Dodge is for dodging.
  
• Fighting is for unarmed combat.
  
• Marksman is fore firearms.
  
• Suport Weapons is for "support level weapons", like machine guns, grenade launchers, mecha, battlecruiser weaponry and so on.
  
• Thrown Weapons are probably terrible, but who doens't like grenades?

The Tager Episode

Athena Darkroad (Fred). Agility 8(10), Intellect 5, Perception 7(9), Presence 5, Strength 6(8), Tenacity 8(10). Courageous/Insecure

Fuck It, More Tagers

• Alluring (1) , giving her a +1 Test Bonus to Presence skills against members of the opposite sex and lesbians, except she takes a -1 to Intimidation instead;
  
• Sexy Voice (1) , giving her a +1 Test Bonus to Presence skills against members of the opposite sex and lesbians, except she takes a -1 to Intimidation instead;
  
• And you know what? Fuck it. Tager .

My Health Scale Is The Scale That Will Pierce The Heavens

• Commendation 1 - it means he has a medal, that is literally it. Also, you can earn these in the Damnation View adventure book, except you have to pay experience anyway.
  
• Famous Incident - for playing a role in "an important event of note". He takes 1 rank in it, which means the event was "important to your organization and members recognise your involvement" but not the public. I guess that eleven car pileup helped catch some cultist.
  
• Fearless - he's HOT BLOODED!
  
• Intimidate: Novice - Because who the hell do you think he is?

Magic-Users Can Just Get Fucked

• Ambidextrous (2) , which "eliminates the Off-Hand Test Penalty for using two weapons if the Character has an Agility of only six or seven". Score!
  
• He briefly considers Authority (3) so he can be the mayor. The Storyguide says no.
  
• Efficient Immune System (1) for a +2 Bonus to Tests to resist sickness, just in case Tentacle Cock is contagious.
  
• Efficient Metabolism(1) for a +2 Test Bonus against poisons and drugs, and also it takes twice as much to get him drunk!
  
• Internal Clock (1) , so he always knows what time and day it is to an accuracy of about ten minutes!
  
• Peripheral Vision (1) , for a +2 Test Bonus to Observation Tests against traps and attacks he is kinda sorta looking at.
  

• Code (1) , will accept any challenge to single combat, will avenge a personal insult;
  
• Dark Secret (1) , at one rank so the dark secret might mildly discomfort him;
  
• Duty (3) , Eldritch Society. Derp derp.
  
• Foe (1) , so he has an enemy. At 1 rank, so the foe is "less skilled than your Character or has access to very few resources". Who doesn't like an enemy who blows?
  
• Hunted (1) , so he has a group as an enemy. At rank 1, "The organization is small and has a limited reach. For example, your Character has angered a shipping company." Yes. That is what has happened to Ryu Foxfire, Bane Of Shipping Companies.
  
• Mute (3) for the dramatic lone wolf ninja thing. "Goddamnit," says the Storyguide.
  
• He'd take Rival (2) , so he has another enemy who just wants to outdo him at something and not harm him, but he's hit 10.

• Athena Darkroad 's average is 7, for 2 Actions. In Tager form, her average is 9 and she gets 3 Actions.
  
• Namy-chan 's average is 7 (2 Actions) in normal form and 9 (3) in Tager.
  
• Ryu Foxfire 's average is just barely 7, for 2 Actions.
  
• Angus Stallman 's average is 4, after powergaming Intellect and Tenacity. 1 Action.
  
• Kai Bachika 's average is 6 after rounding, just above human average. It is also just below the requirement for more than 1 Action.

• Athena Darkroad 's average is 7, for 13 mph (32/8 ypt). As a Tager that becomes 9 for 17 mph (42/10 ypt).
  
• Namy-chan 's average is 6, 11 mph (27/6 ypt). As a Whisper Tager, which gets double movespeed, 8 and 15 mph (37/9 ypt) 30 mph (74/18 ypt).
  
• Ryu Foxfire the ninja gets a 5, 9 mph (13/3 ypt).
  
• Angus Stallman gets 4, 7 mph (17/4 ypt).
  
• Kai Bachika gets 6, 11 mph (27/6 ypt). His mecha's ground speed matches Namy-chan's.

• Athena Darkroad has 11 Orgone, halved for Tager (and rounded down!) to 5. 6 Orgone in Tager form, I think?
  
• Namy-chan gets 6 Orgone in mortal and Tager form.
  
• Ryu Foxfire has 11 Orgone.
  
• Angus Stallman powergamed his way to 28 Orgone and hentai genitalia. I would like you remind you that the rules specifically said he could have hentai genitalia. Tentacle cocks = system mastery?
  
• Kai Bachika has 10 Spiral Power Orgone.

• Athena Darkroad has 6 Reflex (8 Tager).
  
• Namy-chan gets 7 (8 Tager).
  
• Ryu Foxfire has 7.
  
• Angus Stallman has 6, since finally we're on stats that use stats he powergamed.
  
• Kai Bachika has 5.

• Athena Darkroad has Vitality 12, HP 60. 14/70 Tager, plus armour and regen.
  
• Namy-chan has Vitality 11, HP 55. 12/60 Tager, plus armour and regen.
  
• Ryu Foxfire has Vitality 10, HP 50.
  
• Angus Stallman has Vitality 11, HP 55.
  
• Kai Bachika has Vitality 11, HP 55. His PA has 5 Integrity, or 250 Vitality, 1,250 HP (and armour which requires a hit to do 250 Vitality damage or 5 Hybrid damage to hurt him).

This Is The Part Where My Mind Blows

• Athena Darkroad the Tager gets her choice of sidearm and, er, her symbiont.
  
• Namy-chan the Arcanotechnician gets an "Arcanotechnology reference library, a good portable computer, and appropriate professional tools". And no weapons. So basically this Profession is non-combat entirely.
  
• Ryu Foxfire the Intelligence Agent gets a suit of concealed armour, a sidearm, surveillance gear, and a good portable computer.
  
• Angus Stallman the Occult Scholar gets "a small basic occult reference library" and a good portable computer. You know what Occult Scholars don't start with? Spells.
  
• Kai Bachika the Soldier gets a suit of combat armour, a sidearm, an assault rifle, a composite combat knife, and a survival kit.

Invoking the Elder Gods for Dummies

• Book of Dyzan. 6, 6, 7, 2. Challenging Test. 6+6+9 = 21, pass.
  
• Book of Eibon. 9, 5, 4, 1. Challenging Test. 9+9 = 18, pass.
  
• Book of Five Shadows. 4, 9, 1, 6. Challenging Test. 9+9 = 18, pass.
  
• The Breath of R’lyeh. 6, 3, 8, 9. Challenging Test. 9+9 = 18, pass.
  
• De Vermiis Mysteriis. 6, 5, 9, 3. Challenging Test. 9+9 = 18, pass.
  
• The Mysteries Within. 7, 1, 9, 9. ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Hard Test. 9+9+9 = 27, pass.
  
• The Necronomicon. 6, 10, 5, 1. OH GET THE FUCK OUT Challenging Test. 10+9 = 19, pass.
  
• Pnakotic Manuscripts. 7, 4, 1, 3. Challenging Test. 7+9 = 16, pass.

I'm a Cheater, Except When I'm Not

Enhancement                                                                            Cheat Cost
Increase an Attribute by 1 point                                                       3
Get 2 more points to spend on Skills                                                   1
Increase your Orgone by 2                                                              1
Increase your Vitality by 1                                                            1
Start with a legal First Order Protection or Scrying Spell                             1*
Start with an illegal First Order Protection or Scrying Spell                          2*
Start with a legal First Order Enchantment, or Transmogrification Spell                2*
Start with an illegal First Order Enchantment, Summoning, or Transmogrification Spell  4*

Completed Characters

Alright alright.

CthulhuTech: Completed Characters!

Really, I didn't post them because I didn't finish them and I just had to go assign Cheats for reals.

The additions I made just now:

• Gave everyone callsigns, because Tagers have those.
  
• Spent Cheats on nothing but Skills, because I didn't see any reason why you would spend them on anything else in most cases!
  
• Gave Angus every single Scrying and Summoning spell because why not.
  
• Rolled Insanity Tests to learn spells in IRC with several fellow TGD posters. If the Difficulty was Average or lower I didn't bother.
  
• Surprisingly, he failed Insanity Tests for three of them (marked with *s), bumping him up to 3 Insanity Points. That was enough for a disorder, and because Multiple Personalities was on the list, I totally took that. Ward now has 1d5 = 2 extra personalities. (I can't wait for the Insanity section. )
  
• Named these multiple personalities American Kitsune and, I don't know, Tubbytronic Superdome? Feel free to post suggestions for possible multiple personalities for a man with a tentacle cock.
  
• To be fair, I gave everyone else 1 Insanity Point for bearing witness to the glory of Tentacle Cock. Zereth pointed out that Namy-chan's player would argue against that happening to his creepy little Nazzadi, and he has a point, so I didn't give it to her.
  
• Athena gets one, though! That pushed her up to 2, enough for a disorder. I went with Major Depression (episodes of deep sadness and despair, sense of worthlessness, problems eating and sleeping, thoughts of death and suicide) because that seemed like an appropriate response, but Rulebook Heavily liked Rage Disorder (no patience, flies off the handle at the slightest provocation). I have decided to ignore the rules and do both because if I was in a group with these lunatics I'd be mad too. Athena is now a mental wreck who spends her nights lying awake in bed and mulling over her desire to fight for justice and the horrors she's seen.
  
• (By "horrors", I mean tentacle cock.)
  
• In better news: I have named Kai's powered armour "Gigantic Tager" as per requests.

Conflict

• Apparently "civilization has reached its pinnacle of scientific achievement".
  
• Also: Scientists have failed to design working neural interfaces, invent True Artificial Intelligence, and do a bunch of other things.
  
• Nanotechnology exists, and "resulted in the most complete redefinition of NEG economy since the time of the First Arcanotech War." In this radically transformed economy, corporations manufacture things and sell them to you.
  

• quote:

  To the Futurist in You
  Nanotechnology in CthulhuTech has been introduced in such a way to provide interesting background flavor for the setting. Let’s face it – the potential for nanotech is limitless. The restrictions introduced here are meant to allow it to exist without dominating the setting. It’s important to remember that nanotech would be taken as much for granted by the average New Earth Government citizen as arcanotech. It should not be used as a primary focus for your game. After all, CthulhuTech is about far more interesting things than whether or not you can construct a shovel from the molecular level on up.

  Fun fact: CthulhuTech used to be published by Catalyst Game Labs, who at the time also published the nanotechnology-heavy Eclipse Phase, a vastly superior RPG.
  
• Medicine is incredible! Organs and limbs can be replaced and repaired! Also, the health care industry is overburdened despite having healing nanobots and magic! A sidebar explains why full-body cloning doesn't exist!
  
• Mental health care is serious business which I guess makes sense for once.
  
• There's a sidebar on cryogenics and why it didn't work either which starts with "In the 20th and 21st centuries, some futurists placed great faith in eternal life," PS fuck futurists.
  
• Converting to TerraNotes! "If you’re looking to outfit your character with equipment that isn’t listed here, find the early 21st century equivalent, divide the cost by 2, and multiply the total by 1.4 (Tn=($/2)*1.4)."
  
• The weapon and armour tables are long and boring and don't explain themselves well. Some weapons have 2 shots per round, some have 6/1-10/60. What does that mean? Who knows!
  
• Katanas are the best melee weapon because anime. Runner-up is the Wakizashi. Aside from "Military Officer's Sword" and "Sword Cane", no other swords are even mentioned.
  
• Kai probably can't dual-wield rocket launchers. I don't see anything explicitly saying rocket launchers are two-handed, so unless I'm proved wrong later, why not let Kai dual-wield them!
  
• Migou weapons need three arms to use, but still have an entire table of stats because...

1. Determine Initiative! Roll 1d10+Reflex, higher numbers go first. Tied numbers act simultaneously. Standard stuff.
   
2. Declare your number of Actions! If you take more than one, you're hit with those Test Penalties.
   
3. Make your Combat Contests! You roll your combat skill against their Dodge. If you roll Fighting they can roll Armed Fighting or Fighting instead, and if you roll Armed Fighting they can roll Armed Fighting. Apply range modifiers.
   
4. Did you beat his result (not tie)? Great! Roll damage! Compare your result to this handy table to see how many die of damage you do:
   

   pre:

   Result Greater By     Damage
   1-5                   1 die
   6-10                  2 dice
   11-15                 3 dice
   16-20                 4 dice

5. Some weapons add damage dice. For example, the CS-40 Defender (a medium pistol) adds 1 die of damage, and a steel katana adds 2 dice. A composite katana adds 3!
   
6. If you used Armed Fighting or Fighting, chceck your Strength against another table. +8 Strength adds extra die!
   
7. Apply damage to the opponent's Vitality and Wound Scheme to see what penalties he has to things now.
   
8. Oh, and for every point of Armor you have, you can roll a die and reduce the damage by that amount. Athena's Tager form reduces damage by 1d10, while Kai's powered armour reduces it by 2d10 Integrity-scale, or 2d10*50 Vitality-scale (an average of 550 HP).
   
9. Now do that all again for everyone who had a second Action, then third.
   
10. Back to Step 1!
    

• Each turn, a Character can take one normal Action and one free Action. Free actions are things like ducking, "surveying the situation", "speaking a short sentence" and "taking a couple of steps". Normal Actions include things like drawing a gun, "moving in any variety of ways", and attacking. With only 1 Action, Kai has to choose between firing his gun and doing anything else every turn.
  
• Automatic weapons have an "automatic fire profile" which describes how many targets in front of you can be hit in one action (a lot), how many rounds you hit them with (1d5 or 1d10, extra rounds just do the weapon's bonus in damage) and how many rounds you expend. This is mentioned a chapter after the weapons table.
  
• You can get a +1 Test Modifier for taking the time "to describe a good cinematic moment", if the Storyguide allows that rule. Hooray!
  
• If you miss with an indirect fire weapon (like a grenade), you have to roll to see how far away it lands and then to see where it landed (cross-reference the d10 result to a table that expresses it in terms of clock facings).
  
• There's a sidebar letting you know how much Vitality desks, chairs, doors and windows have. Okay, never mind, that was boring.

• Mecha have modifiers that increase their pilot's Reflex. In large battles with more than 5 mecha, all units of the same type roll together using the mech with the highest Reflex.
  
• Mecha can modify the pilot's number of Actions too, and the Multi-Task System increases his maximum Actions to 4. Taking 4 Actions incurs a -6 Test Penalty.
  
• There are rules for getting up to 5 Actions (-8) if your mecha has a tongue or tail (fifth Action must be used on that) or you're an alien with multiple sets of limbs. If both apply, you get 6 Actions! (Still -8!)
  
• A mech's limited artificial intelligence gives the pilot a "free action each turn which can be used to activate sensors or communicate with other pilots". Gee, thanks!
  
• There are size modifiers that can affect Attack/Defense Contests!
  
• Wound Levels become Damage Levels! There's Cosmetic Damage, Light Damage, Moderate Damage, Serious Damage and Critical Damage. At each Level, certain mecha systems go offline and need a mechanic to repair them. Paging ahead reveals it is possible to lose weapons as early as Moderate and flight powers at S.
  
• Some mecha have Damage Control Systems, which is regen for mecha. Doesn't heal Cosmetic Damage though. Also, it fails at Critical. Engel just have regen.

Insanity Pts. Level of Insanity     Disorders    Penalty
0 - 1         Sane & Well-Balanced  None         0
2 - 3         Troubled              1 Permanent  0
4 - 5         Twisted               2 Permanent  -1
6 - 7         Disturbed             3 Permanent  -2
8 - 9         Insane                4 Permanent  -4
10 Points     Gone                  6 Permanent  -

Quit Gettin' Mad About Tabletop Games

• MV-16 Broadsword: A Medium all-rounder mecha for people who don't like making decisions. Also, I posted it! It has swords, some nice amphibious weapons, and it has all the movement systems except enhanced speed and flying. A solid choice.
  
• Mk-10 Centurion: Actually Tiny Powered Armor. As such it would probably get pasted if it entered combat with any of the larger mecha. You get to choose from three different variations of "a ranged attack and a blade"!
  
• MV-15 Claymore: A Large Mecha. The Broadsword, only more so. It has a Rocket Pod and a Chaff Dispenser which can occasionally barf out magnetic particles to negate rocket and torpedo attacks.
  
• Mk-5 Crusader: Kai's PA. Literally just the Centurion with an extra die of armour and its weapons have to be hand-held. Its choices are a Hyperedge Blade & Flamethrower, a Rocket Pod & Laser Cannon, and a Plasma Cannon and AP Cannon (Vitality scale). If you pick either of the first two the Wargame Point Cost goes from 2 to 5.
  
• MV-16A Gladius: A Medium Close Urban Combat Mecha. Comes with Flamethrower, two Blades and a Plasma Cannon. Aside from the weapons, basically the Broadsword with more stat boosts and a better Damage Control System.
  
• MV-18A Rapier: A Small Tactical Stealth Combat Mecha. It's got flight and stealth, which it probably needs with Integrity 10. Has a Laser Cannon and two Hyperedge Spurs. It can do 60 mph in the air, "enough to get home as soon as possible". And by ASAP it means...
  
• MV-18 Saber: A Small Tactical Reconnaissance Mecha which is twice as fast as the Rapier. Mostly has a ton of sensor equipment but it's got a Chaff Dispenser and an Amphibious Laser Cannon to help it out. With the same low Integrity and damage penalty as the Rapier, though, these guys clearly aren't made for combat.
  
• MC-14 Scimitar: A Medium Artillery Support Mecha. It runs around in the back firing its Long Range Missile Rack at people.

• Aral: Medium stealth Engel. It is worlds better than the Rapier, if you can handle piloting an Engel and spend the negative points required to get one. Comes with blades, Plasma Cannon, Grav Bomb and a horrifying maw!
  
• Auphan: Medium recon Engel. Like the Saber, only better. Comes with a Plasma Cannon, Fog Projector and acid-drenched mandibles, flies ridiculously fast.
  
• Cherub: A Large artillery Engel. Also, by "Cherub" they mean giant horror with acid-dripping scorpion tail. Despite being artillery support and coming with two Linked Rocket Pods and a Plasma Cannon, apparently they prefer the tail.
  
• Malach: The "baseline" Engel. The exterior is mostly armour so they're quite photogenic, besides the tentacles. Comes with weapons for every occasion and is still far better than most non-Engels.
  
• Seraph: Huge horned behemoth, comes with even more oversized weapons, resistant to cold. The "Migou can just get fucked" Engel, I suppose.
  
• Tarshish: Large Engel for close urban combat. Has a huge creepy black tongue as a primary melee weapon and some cool toys to back it up.
  

• Blizzard: Large Heavy Weapons mech. Extremely fast, jumps really far, comes with acidic claws and a Lightning Gun.
  
• Borealis: Tiny Powered Armour. Fast enough to keep up with the bigger mecha, used for urban and close combat situations. Police use these with hand-held AP cannons to hunt hostile lifeforms inside arcologies, like Tagers I guess! (dun dun dun!)
  
• Eclipse: Small Stealth Mecha. Looks like a night elf. Like the other stealth mecha, only fast.
  
• Gale: Tiny Powered Armor! It has a Charge Beam, which is weird for a PA because it does a fuckton of damage. Its job is to be really fast and toast enemies who don't expect powered armour to be packing heat like this.
  
• Hurricane: Small Recon Mecha. They rush in, scope an area out, drop Grav Bombs and jam communications. They have X-ray vision so they can see and hunt stealthed units.
  
• Maelstrom: Medium Artillery Support Mecha, kitted out with Rocket Pods for artillery support and enhanced speed to troll the shit out of the enemy with them.
  
• Storm: The Medium baseline Nazzadi mecha. Moves fast like the others, hits like a truck, can be deployed in all sorts of environments. Not too shabby.
  
• Tornado: Medium Close Urban Battle Mecha, because nothing says "fuck you, urban battles" like a mecha moving at 180mph and tearing things up with acid claws while blowing out the power grid with his Lightning Gun. Often used in tandem with the Gladius for maximum destruction.

• Dragonfly: Small Recon Mech. Houses a ton of sensors AND a stealth system, something the NEG can't do. They are also super fast and have grav bombs and a laser cannon. Fuck you, NEG!
  
• Fireant: Medium Close Urban Battle Mech. It's quick and fights with a flamethrower and acid mandibles while using a fog projector to blind other mecha. It is basically a huge troll.
  
• Grub: Medium Artillery Support. They show up in groups and typically sit at the back lines firing their two rocket pods all over the place, then snipe with their laser cannons.
  
• Locust: Medium Multi-Purpose Main Battle Mech! The all-rounder Locusts show up in huge numbers and tear at things with their lasers or the popular acid mandibles. Can't fly, though.
  
• Mantis: Behemoth Super-Heavy Battle Mech. Despite being fuck-off huge it can jump half a mile without even trying (12x normal jump distance!), and when it lands it is covered in weapons and comes with two huge pincers as a bonus.
  
• Scorpion: Large Heavy Weapons Battle Mech. Looks like a big robot scorpion, stabs things with its acid stinger and blasts them with plasma cannons and lightning guns, and are a bitch to take down.
  
• Silverfish: Small Tactical Stealth Combat Mech. It can accelerate quickly to 270mph on a lot of little legs and keep itself stealthed. Alien science! They fire null rays (huge raygun) and grav bombs.
  
• Wasp: Large Heavy Artillery Support Mech. Far better than every other Artillery Support mech, with linked rocket pods, a long-range missile pack and a great turn of speed.

• Hydra: Medium Multi-Purpose Main Battle Mech again! The EOD's main mecha comes with all-amphibious weapons: laser cannon, tentacles, torpedo cannon, chaff dispenser. It's a good all-round mecha designed to operate on land and in the ocean, but it has less health than the other all-rounders.
  
• Mudskipper: Tiny Powered Armour the EOD mass-produces for the Deep Ones. They jump around a lot and are fast underwater, but they don't bother with protection from water and ocean pressure since the Deep Ones are fine with that. It comes with claws, tentacles and no ranged weapons because Deep Ones have shitty eyesight.

Sorcerer-Grognards And Their Goddamn Rules

Dead Baby Jokes

• Consecrate Arcane Space "mystically prepares and cleanses the dimensional fiber of a space", specifically a 250 sq.ft. place. This is required for any other enchantment or summoning ritual. Prep Time: 3 Days, Cast Time: 4 Hours.
  
• Constitute Corporal Restorative creates ten applications worth of a healing salve that stabilises, prevents complications and doubles healing rate. Higher Wound Levels require more applications, so someone at Death's Door needs five of them. Also, you need the Hobby (Cooking), Life Science or Trivia (Herbalism) skill at Novice. Prep Time: 1 Day, Cast Time: 4 Hours.
  
• Constitute Powder of Ibn Ghazi creates three uses of a powder that reveals all invisible or "mystically hidden" things in a 100 square foot area. Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 6 Hours.

• Craft Ring of Dreams makes a magic ring that lets you into people's dreams (provided they are within 100ft.) to observe and interact with them, affecting things on a personal level. The ritual is allegedly illegal, very rare and extremely expensive, but I can actually think of a lot of uses for this one. Like entering someone's dreams and forcing them to play CthulhuTech in them. Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 1 Day.
  
• Craft Woeful Orb gives someone a floating attack sphere that fires lightning lasers at people and reduce their Actions if they fail a Hard Tenacity Feat Test. They last for "one season", so three months I guess. Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 1 Day.

• Craft Yog-Sothoth's Guard is the big daddy of Enchantment spells. It makes someone invulnerable to harm, and all harm caused by a living creature is reflected back on the attacker. Environmental damage like drowning and crushing can still hurt you otherwise, though. The Guard waits to activate until "genuine harm" is imminent (not "oh no I fell over" harm, actual harm) and then makes him invincible for a grand total of five minutes. Trying to have two Guards at once kills you. You can give it to someone else but it disrupts electronic systems when active and interferes with symbionts, meaning mecha pilots and Tagers can't use it. Also, everyone involved in the ritual has to do it naked. Prep Time: 1 Week, Cast Time: 2 Days.

• Ward Against Sorcery gives someone a +4 Contest Modifier to spells which require a Contest to affect them. Spells that don't require a Contest become one Degree harder. It also resists beneficial spells! Lasts a week. Prep Time: 6 Hours, Cast Time: 6 Hours.
  
• Ward of Corporal Protection is similar, but provides two dice of Armor against physical harm instead. If you actually wear armour, it only adds one die, and Tagers can only benefit in unshifted form. It resists spells that "corrupt flesh". Prep Time: 6 Hours, Cast Time: 6 Hours.
  
• Ward of Solitude Protects someone from surveillance and scrying. You are visible only to the "naked senses" and no mechanical, electronic or supernatural means, including the superhuman senses of monsters, Dhohanoids and Tagers. Ibn Ghazi powder and Eldritch Faculties still see you, though. Lasts a week. Prep Time: 6 Hours, Cast Time: 6 Hours.

• Ward Against the Unseen wards a 400sq.ft. area for a month, preventing anything outside the ward from contacting those within (including through dreams!), nullifying spells that "influence the behaviour of a person" and reducing the effects of spells by half. Prep Time: 1 Day, Cast Time: 1 Day.
  
• Ward of Seclusion is basically Ward of Solitude, only for a place instead of a person. A 800sq.ft. place, for a month! Prep Time: 1 Day, Cast Time: 1 Day.

• Ward Against the Unbidden will ward the shit out of you. Actually, it wards a place against Outsiders! Actually, it doesn't stop them from entering, but "the pain and fear it causes will certainly give one pause". Gee, thanks. They can detect the ward before they enter and, if they do, require a Hard Fear Test or suffer a -3 Test Penalty to everything. Also, any Outsider that lingers for more than two minutes suffers a die of damage a minute. Wonder how many it needs to kill you. Also, Outsider means "non-mortal" in this context, including Tagers. Tentacle Cock suffers half effects, has an easier Test and suffers only half a die every two minutes after the first five. It covers a 3600 sq.ft. area and lasts two months. Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 2 Days.

• Eldritch Faculties lets you see invisible shit just like Ibn Ghazi. Wait, does this negate Shadow Tager stealth? Probably. It also lets you see someone's "aura" to find out their health, mental state and any magic or para-psychic influence. One of the components is "clear unflavored alcohol", which amuses me. Lasts 24 hours. Prep Time: 6 Hours, Cast Time: 2 Hours. :eyeroll: You can recharge it with another ritual that takes half the time though!
  
• Perceive Etheric Resonance lets you feel "the resonance of the fifth dimension" in physical objects. In other words, touch a thing and you can feel the emotions of its owner during the most recent and intense events. So you can handle a sword, and know the guy who used it was super angry. Lasts 24 hours and is rechargeable. Prep Time: 6 Hours, Cast Time: 2 Hours.
  
• Phantom Vision lets you see any place you've been before at will. The spell lasts an hour. Apparently the NEG and police love the shit out of the spell and executives can use it to check on their boardrooms and spy on their wives. Or not - Prep Time: 6 Hours, Cast Time: 2 Hours.

• Contact Those Who Dwell Beyond requires a blood sacrifice. Animals are OK though. It "puts out a call through the dimensions to be answered by anything that’s listening", and basically contacts a completely random alien entity (unless the Storyguide tells you nobody is listening and the spell fails). The entity will share information, knowledge, and even power if it feels like it, and payment could be anything from "nothing" to "perform a deed then recast this ritual to contact me again" to "make a sacrifice, I'll show up to collect!". Being involved requires a Challenging Insanity Test against gaining an Insanity Point. This spell actually kind of owns, except for the chance of failure and - Prep Time: 3 Days, Cast Time: 1 Day.
  
• Wisdom of Yog-Sothoth is lets you see through time, giving you strange and symbolic visions of possible futures. Requires the same Insanity Test, inflicts one die of damage from pain caused by casting a spell called Wisdom of Yog- fucking- Sothoth , and runs the risk of "attracting the attention of things outside of time". According to a sidebar, alien creatures called Hounds often show up to eat people who cast this or any other spell that involves time travel. So why include it? Fuck you, that's why. Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 1 Day.

• Beyond the Wall is an Order higher than "get killed by time wolves" and "be seared by contact with Yog-Sothoth" so you know it's going to be good. It lets you see beyond the wall... of sleep! While under the spell's effects you can make eye contact with someone and see one of their dreams from the dozens they've had recently, and might give useful insights. You can get three dreams per extended conversation or one per quick conversation. The spell lasts 24 hours and is illegal, rare and expensive. Wisdom of Yog-Sothoth is none of those things. Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 1 Day.

• Beckon the Mystical Unborn , also known as Beckon Fetal Outsider because it summons a ghost fetus. Yes.
  
  The ghost fetus is the ghost of a stillborn or aborted Outsider-tainted baby. It knows six languages (including R'lyehan and Tsath-yo), flies, moves through walls, can give magical advice, can speak telepathically, and are "strangely well-educated and intelligent". Dapper ghost fetus? Hell yes. They are weird and alien, though. It shows up already predisposed to serving the caster and friend and companion until dismissed, though it has a strange idea of right and wrong". Sounds like a good deal to me. "Hey Ghosty, let's go to the movies!" "Aw shucks Mr. Wizard, you're my best friend!" :aww: Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 6 Hours. By the way, the ritual calls for an aborted fetus or a stillborn baby. Have fun with that.
  
• Summon Familiar summons a "mystical animal" which serves and assists the caster. They are all outsider-tainted and have something visibly wrong with them, like glowing red eyes or extra legs. They are sentient, understand every word said to them, and can contribute Ruach?! Cast this immediately! It too requires no binding and will be your "lifelong friend and companion, though it may have a warped idea of right and wrong", and also this spell is illegal and the OIS will visit you if you don't disguise your pet. Stats are provided for cats, ravens and snakes, and also there's a mini-lecture on picking a creature that will be "passable in everyday life" and isn't too alien. Prep Time: 6 Hours, Cast Time: 2 Hours.
  
• Summon Fetch summons a creepy little bipedal Outsider to help you out. They are sneaky, smart, can contribute Ruach to a ritual and assist, and will get you arrested if you're caught with one. On the bright side it doesn't need binding (though it will test the boundaries until you show it who's boss) and will be your "lifelong friend and companion, though it definitely has a warped idea of right and wrong". You can have as many fetches as you like, but more than three is just silly and they'll get into trouble unattended. They come in all shapes and sizes; stats are provided for Flying Imps, Fanged Dwarves and Carnivorous Amphibians. Prep Time: 1 Day, Cast Time: 6 Hours.

• Beckon Shade Corpus , also known as Craft Zombie because... yeah. Set up a dead body and let an alien intelligence crawl inside and animate it for you! It stops decay, so a fresh body is best. They are very clever and, unless bound, will eventually leave and wander the world unless destroyed. "Hey Angus, I quit!" "kay!" Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 12 Hours.
  
• Call Forth Gaunt summons a minor demon, useful as a spy or assassin. Gaunts are clever assholes and are usually bound to service. Dealing with a free-willed Gaunt is like taking care of a wolf who is also an asshole. They can contribute Ruach to rituals and will stick around until killed. Like literally every Summoning spell, it is illegal as balls. Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 1 Day.

• Call Forth Bakhi summons a greater demon! Also, it requires a mortal sacrifice of any age. Bakhis are intelligent, are great servants for the right price, and will probably fuck with your orders if you bind them. They can contribute Ruach and assist in rituals if you want to actually summon an alien asshole with Intellect 11. Here is a tip: Don't. Prep Time: 4 Days, Cast Time: 2 Days.

• Degeneration gives someone you don't like a magical disease. It doesn't kill, but over a week it will turn someone into a "wheezing, emaciated thing that's barely strong enough to whisper and crawl". Purify Form instantly cures it and an unweaving causes the effects to wear off over a month, or a week if mystically purified. Can you do that to a person? It requires a Contest, the caster's Occult against the victim's Tenacity Feat skill, and the caster gets a +2 Contest Modifier. Prep Time: 1 Day, Cast Time: 4 Hours.
  
• Mend Flesh quadruples a stabilised patient's rate of healing, prevents complications, leaves no scars, revives people from comas, etc. It doesn't work on creatures with natural regeneration. As you may have noticed, there are no combat healing spells. Prep Time: 6 Hours, Cast Time: 2 Hours.
  
• Thieve Visage lets you use something from a victim's body and two effigies to swap faces, hair and voice with someone else. Gender, height, weight, fingerprints and DNA do not change, but maybe you can impersonate someone roughly your shape who you have knocked out in your garage! It lasts a week but can be recharged. It requires the same Contest. More illegal than assault and battery. Prep Time: 1 Day, Cast Time: 6 Hours.

• Manipulate Passion lets you influence someone's emotions, magnifying or dulling them as required. The emotion must be present in at least some form, so you can't make someone love you if they have don't at least feel a bit of affection, so it only works if she wants it you can't be creepy with it. Lasts for one month and can't be recharged, but if you "properly reinforce" the emotion, the change might stick. Occult +2 vs. Tenacity again. About as legal as kicking a judge in the face. Prep Time: 1 Day, Cast Time: 6 Hours.
  
• Purify Form is an actually pretty good healing spell! It "restores a being to its unadulterated and natural genetic state", curing everything from the flu and food poisoning to cancer and HIV and removing the Outsider Taint, if you were cursed with it and didn't get it by birth or a magical mishap. Doesn't accelerate healing, but who cares, it cures the fuck out of cancer! Prep Time: 2 Days, Cast Time: 1 Day.

• Curse of the Outsiders rewrites some poor sucker's genetic code, slapping them with the Outsider Taint Drawback. Or tentacle cock, if you prefer. Symptoms manifest over the course of the next 1d5 days. Tagers are immune. The change is permanent, unless the spell is unweaved or countered with Purify Form, but the NEG will still arrest you for testing just in case. They'll probably purify the victim, but that just makes this spell great for getting rid of someone for a week and putting them on a government watchlist. Great for trolling. Occult vs. Tenacity again, but this time the caster gets +4. Even less legal than molesting the Prime Minister's daughter's parrot while shooting pensioners. Prep Time: 1 Week, Cast Time: 3 Days. Also, ritual participants "must have debased and defiled their own bodies" for at least two of those prep days.

Two Chapters, One Post

• Bakhis are hyperintelligent winged demons from another part of the universe which are often summoned to assist sorcerers. Naturally, they twist orders around and corrupt their masters because they are assholes.
  
• Blanks are humans turned into mind-slaves by the Migou. They can be anything from soldiers to sorcerers.
  
• Deep Ones are the children of Dagon and the dudes who run the rape camps. Let's not talk about them.
  
• Gaunts are shadowy flying creatures the Cults summon as spies and assassins. They are described as "very, very clever", and their Intellect is 3.
  
• Ghasts are nocturnal predators with "eerily Human" faces who jump well, have been taught to use firearms and are the foot soldiers of the Rapine Storm, despite the fact that sunlight blinds them.
  
• Hybrids turn into Deep Ones within ten years of manifesting their alien traits and pilot the EOD's mecha.
  
• Migou have strange, alien emotions, except for hate. They have lots of hate. They hate so much.
  
• N'athim can shapeshift into mortals they have a body part from, and wherever they go people start to go insane. Good times!

• Dua-Sanaras are tentacled amphibious things who act like those guys who do evil things solely because it says Chaotic Evil on their character sheets.
  
• Elib are smooth black urban predators who like killing people just for the hell of it. I guess Dhohanoids are huge trolls. They can swallow people whole and only killing the Elib or making them vomit will save them. Easy! Just show them this game.
  
• Gelgore are vaguely snakelike, secrete paralytic poison and fire poison needles from their mouths like machineguns. Unlike the last two they are professional and efficient.
  
• Thog-Manna are formless blobs which can slip through cracks and change shape at will. They have absolutely no recognisable emotions, and are also huge evil egomaniacs.
  
• Vrykol are winged insectoid creatures with a wide range of senses who are masters of multi-tasking and basically described as having ADHD.
  
• Zabuth are cyclopean monsters and the toughest of the Dhohanoids. They fight with tooth, claw and laser eyebeam and are also arrogant jerks.

• Bholes are gigantic works which use the Integrity scale and can swallow people. They are covered in corrosive acid which burns anyone who touches them, which doesn't appear to come up in its statblock, and swallowed targets simply die within a few turns. Can you save party members by killing the Bhole? Shrug. Apparently they're affiliated with the Rapine Storm.
  
• Chiranae are arachnid horrors who use illusions and go hunting for the cults of Hastur. They like to shove people in their mouths but don't have any swallow whole attacks, thankfully.
  
• Gibbering Horrors are great. Seriously, look at this fucking thing:
  
  He looks like this is the happiest day of his life . They're the hounds of the Rapine Storm and have an actually hard Fear Factor of 22 when gibbering. They were originally created by rituals involving torturing dozens of people to death and combining them, but apparently now they can procreate on their own. Maybe that's why he looks so happy!
  
• Grave Things are alien insects summoned by the Rapine Storm which reproduce by laying eggs in piles of corpses. Good thing the Rapine Storm has a lot of those lying around! The sun kills them within minutes. Has the Rapine Storm considered summoning a monster who is also a morning person?
  
• Gugs were allegedly "exiled to dimensions beyond our own for their atrocities in the mortal realm". By who? What did they do which got them kicked out while Grave Things and those rape furries from Damnation View get to stay? What, is this, RPGNet?
  
• Shabus Morgoes are even more monsters tamed and used as shock troops by the Rapine Storm. Nobody is sure if they were summoned or just awoken. They have some wicked awesome vertebrae.
  
• Shantak are reptilian birds which fight in the skies for the Storm. Huge jerks.
  
• Spawn are the "true children of R'lyeh" and very rare. They help the EOD find Cthulhu so they can fuck the world with him. They are hilariously tough fighters and "among the most skilled sorcerers on Earth". Orgone: only 15.

I Really Should Stop Posting That Fucking Logo

• Drazet is apparently responsible for the Ta'ge Fragments and the ruined city they were found in. Not much else is known about him. The Eldritch Society sort-of revere him like knights would a saint, but are careful about it since they don't know much about him.
  
• Morfean was worshipped by the greeks as Hypnos, god of sleep. Master of time and dreams, may be connected to the Dreamlands and/or the Hounds.
  
• Myrovh is some kind of great manipulator and believes that only the strongest should survive. Possibly connected to Yog-Sothoth, may have used its "mastery of the dimensions" to exile the Old Ones, only mentioned in the Fragments.
  
• Savaty'ya is a patron of dreamers and visionaries, a being which has "evolved to a level where its mere presence transmutes the primal energies of the universe". May be questing to become the most powerful deity in the universe, which probably wouldn't be a good thing. Also, his more well-known avatar is Nodens.

Storyguiding For Dummies

• Archetypes are... apparently universal to a lot of things, but mecha anime uses them a lot! The young brash hero who needs to learn more, the old wise mentor, blah blah blah... apparently, "helping steer Characters into familiar roles" and creating suitable NPCs, you'll be "one step closer to that anime feel".
  
• Drama means skipping the "quiet plots about personal introspection" because mecha anime is about BIG MOMENTS and BIG ACTION!
  
• Hope is what it sounds like. No matter how shitty the odds are, people will rise again. (I assume running Cthulhu Toppa Gurren Lagann is playing CthulhuTech wrong though.)
  
• Soap Opera means human drama! Love plots, seeking your father's approval, best friend crushes, love triangles! "If you don’t have at least one brooding element and one sincerely complicated love interest in your story, you’re missing out".

• Creeping Dread! It starts off as general unease but becomes intense fear as you start to unravel the truth of things! WoooOOOooo!
  
• Fear & Insanity! Scary things! Spooky cults! Corruption! Things your mind isn't meant to handle! The truth nature of the universe is dark and gruesome! WooooOOOOooooOOOO! (PCs get a lot of therapy to help though. Therapy! WooooOOOOooooOOOOoooo!)
  
• Ominous! Something bad is about to happen! WOOOoooOOOoooOOO!!
  
• Point of No Hope! The moment you realise your efforts to stop evil will be futile! The world refuses to believe the truth! Oh Nooooooooo!
  
• The Unknown! Things you don't know! The real world laying beyond the illusion of human society! Negroes! Wait, we're not doing that part of Lovecraft? All right then. Things you don't know! OH NO!!
  
• Tragedy! Most stories in eldritch horror end in death or insanity! Evil wins! Or the PCs have a phyrric victory! Nice things happen in CthulhuTech, but not often enough! OOOH NNOOOOO!!!

1. Arcane Underground: The magic black market! I almost typed "magic black marker" and have a new idea for an adventure.
   
2. Black Ops: Anything from drug running to brainwashing to assassination
   
3. Corporate: Work for the Ashcroft Foundation and do business! Work for some other company! Work for the Chrysalis Corporation and be oblivious!
   
4. Counter-espionage: Root out Cult spies, Blanks, Hybrids and Dhohanoids in the NEG!
   
5. Espionage: Go undercover to infiltrate cults and other organisations and steal their intelligence! If the NEG asks you to infiltrate the Rapine Storm say no.
   
6. Intelligence: Wish you were at least playing The Laundry RPG Information gathering, hacking, surveillance, and spying! Like Espionage but less hands-on.
   
7. Military Mecha: One of the main types of NEG story! You dig giant robots! I dig giant robots! We dig giant robots! Chicks dig giant robots!
   
8. Military Special Forces: Living on the edge as a military squad performing dangerous missions! (Ask for the powered armour!)
   
9. National Security: Work with the police, or the Federal Security Bureau (FSB), or the NSA, or the FBI, or the OIS, or hell, the BBC!
   
10. Research: Be scientists and technicians solving problems! Puzzle-based gameplay! DO NOT BE A SORCERER.

Arcanotechnician: Tariq al-Sayyed
Arcanotech Engineer: Mizzy
Bouncer: Zerga the Bloody
Burglar: Larissa Kane
Combat Soldier: Elisa McEvers
Corporate Executive: Lu Kwang
Exotic Dancer: Sabrina D’Aubigne
Fence: Myles Brenham
Hacker: Reneda the Worm
Intelligence Agent:
Andrea Kolbeck
Mech Pilot: Major Klanady “Black Widow”
NEG Government Politician: Catavy
NEG Military Officer: Colonel George Ramsay
Occult Scholar: Dr. Richard Woodhouse
Police Officer: Magoma Gnassingbe
Radical Artist: Morgan Gates
Scientist: Dr. Dasomy
Security Guard: Howard Smith
Sorcerer (Independent): Vinson Forsythe
Sorcerer (OIS): Hitomi Ichikawa
Sorcerer (Rogue): Ukrida
Street Tough: Drokata the Stick
SWAT Officer: Roberto Fuentes
Tager: Dolph Schnitzler (Nightmare)
Tager: Danielle Hunter (Phantom)
Tager: Talorga (Shadow)
Tager: Somesh Biswas (Whisper)

Choo Choo!

• Roy Adkins (male) : No description of physical appearance.
  
• Alexis Lockhart (female) : "Extremely beautiful".
  
• Commander William : No description.
  
• Captain Julia : "Attractive and elegant for her age".

• Laura Briggs (female) : "Sexy and knows how to use her feminine charms to get what she wants".
  
• Viktor Tabanov (male) : "Excellent physical shape".
  
• Patrick Mulligen (male) : No description.
  
• Maria Sanz (female) : "Pretty".

• Klaus Ackerman, (male) : No description.
  
• John Russell, (male) : No description.
  
• Cindy Wells (female) : "Pixy-ish".
  
• Heather Dering (female) : "Beautiful, redhead".

Staredog

CthulhuTech:

• Kory (female) : "Not so much beautiful as exotic".
  
• Dave (male) : No description.
  
• Anton (male) : No description.

• Karen V (female) : No description.
  
• Domany (female) : "Almost magazine perfect, Domany is smart enough to know how to use her looks without looking like she is." Description does not actually include occupation or role in the story. Apparently "likes nice things".
  
• Farouk Hassan (male) : No description.
  
• Katie (female) : No description, besides the pop music thing.
  
• Laurence Zimmer (male) : No description.
  
• Nlada (male) : "Brilliant green eyes with sideways feline pupils".

The End Bit