CthulhuTech: Difference between revisions

[[File:corebook.jpg|frame| [[Troperiffic|Evangelion + H.P. Lovecraft + Macross (Robotech version) + Guyver + Akira.]]]]

 

 

Pretty soon, the D-Engine makes the development of [[Humongous Mecha]] feasible, along with other futuristic technology (hover cars and [[Artificial Gravity|antigrav]] being two commonplace examples).

 

 

Bad enough? [[It Got Worse|Apparently not]].

You see, while all this was going on, various [[Eldritch Abomination]] cults were enjoying a resurgence due to the discovery of [[Functional Magic]] by the populace, even taking over their own [[Mega Corp]], the Chrysalis Corporation. That would be bad enough, except one of said cults, the Children Of Chaos, invent the [[Psycho Serum|Rite of Transfiguration]], which transforms a mortal being into a [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|shapeshifter]] [[Super Soldier]], called a Dhohanoid. It gets even better for the [[The Federation|New Earth Government]] when another cult, the Disciples of the Unnamable, successfully summons an avatar of the Old One Hastur into the world, who happily wreaks havoc by having part of his cult become the [[Omnicidal Maniac|trigger-happy]] Rapine Storm, and the other becoming the [[Diabolical Mastermind|criminal]] Death Shadows, despite the efforts of the [[Defector From Decadence]] cult, the Eldritch Society. Meanwhile, the Esoteric Order of Dagon, who'd been quietly breeding a Deep One army for millennia, are taking over strategic locations in and around the world's oceans while searching for R'lyeh so they can [[The End of the World as We Know It|awaken Great Cthulhu]].

 

 

 

 

* [[Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence]]: Possible for powerful sorcerers. {{spoiler|Not safe. Wait, is that really a spoiler?}}

* [[Audio Erotica]]: A character asset.

* [[Black and Grey Morality]]: Would you prefer the paranoid [[Police State]] of the NEG sir? The amoral Eldritch Society? The genocidal Migou? Or would you like to go all out and join the [[Eldritch Abomination]] cults?

* [[Butterfly of Death and Rebirth]]: The Chrysalis Corporation uses one of these as their insignia. Incidentally, they also specialize in turning people into hybrid monsters. Symbolism anyone?

* [[Bond Creatures]]: Project Nephilim. See [[Mons]] below.

* [[Brain In a Jar]]: {{spoiler|Harvested human brains, kept alive indefinitely in metal jars, form the core of Migou computer systems.}}

* [[Brainwashed]]: The Migou have a process known as "Assimilation" which is a perfect brainwashing system: it creates fanatically loyal subjects, is irreversible and can only be detected with advanced brain scans.

* [[Bug War]]: The Aeon War, with both the [[Starfish Aliens|Migou]] and the Rapine Storm's various monsters attacking humanity, certainly comes under this category.

* [[By-The-Book Cop]]: The [[FBI|FSB]] is presented as this, in contrast to the OIS, who openly operate as [[State Sec]].

** It's worth mentioning that the core rulebook acknowledges the various anime influences on the series, and lists them all out.

* [[Child by Rape]]: Most Deep One Hybrids, though hardly all.

* [[Corrupt Corporate Executive]]: The Chrysalis Corporation takes it to a whole new level, insofar as their Director is actually ''Nyarlathotep''. Don't think anyone else is gonna be toppin' ''that'' one any time soon.

* [[Cosmic Horror Story]]

* [[Crossover Cosmology]]: The setting is a fusion of ''[[Macross]]'' (Nazzadi=Zentradi), ''[[Guyver]]'' (Tagers v. Dhohanoids = Guyvers v. Zoanoids), and of course ''[[Neon Genesis Evangelion]]'', all with a healthy dose of the [[H.P. Lovecraft|Mythos]] added. And the players' guide adds ''[[Akira]]'' into the mix...!

* [[Death World]]: The area around the [[Negative Space Wedgie|the Zone]].

* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: Finding out {{spoiler|there's a second Hive Ship headed towards Earth.}} The section of the adventure that this happens in is even called "That's It, We're Totally Effed." GMs are advised to have a supporting NPC or two ''[[Driven to Suicide|blow their brains out]] right there''. It's a ''tad'' bleak.

* [[Free-Love Future]]: Casual sex is seen as perfectly normal in the 2080's, although most people use it as a way to eventually meet someone with which they want to have a monogamous relationship - and, y'know, because sex feels good.

* [[Fridge Brilliance]]: Why is it called the ''Aeon War''? Eh? Eh?

''And with strange aeons even death may die''" }}

* [[Green-Skinned Space Babe]]: Nazzadi women are often treated as such by the artists on this project. Seriously, go through the books and try to find one Nazzadi female who isn't Stripperiffic.

** The fact that they have no nudity taboo doesn't help matters.

* [[Grim Up North]]: The Migou mostly inhabit the polar regions.

* [[Half-Human Hybrid]]: In three different flavors!

** The Outsider Taint drawback, which doubles your [[Mana Meter|Orgone]] at the cost of [[Blessed with Suck|the NEG's trust, the ability to become a Tager or pilot an Engel, and a physical deformity]].

* [[Hopeless War]]

* [[Humanoid Abomination]]: An entire subrace of them (white xenomixes), and then some.

* [[Innocent Fanservice Girl|Innocent Fanservice Race]]: The Nazzadi have no nudity taboo. They don't run around naked in public or anything, but they think nothing of stripping down if the situation might possibly call for it.

* [[Jump Physics]]: Cthulhutech is animesque, so characters are allowed to pull wicked jumps.

* [[Knight Templar]]: The Office Of Internal Security has a lot of these on staff.

* [[Lovecraftian Superpower]]: Dhoanoids and Tagers have this as their schtick; the dhoanoids are closer to the strict definition of the term.

* [[Mad Scientist]]: Most scientists in the setting, considering that its science concerns itself with [[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know]].

* [[Melee a Trois]]: The Migou, Humans/Nazzadi run NEG, and Cults all want each other dead/conquered/changed.

* [[Metaplot]]: Present and integrated into the game mechanics. By the rules as written, the largest available XP award available to characters comes from witnessing the end of a metaplot arc.

* [[Mind Rape]]: Oh so very common. It happens just from ''looking'' at [[Eldritch Abomination|some of the things that humanity has to fight]]. It can also be done by parapsychics, and the [[State Sec|OIS]] does it to people it suspects of involvement in cults.

* [[Mission Control]]: The Eldritch Society Operators are this.

* [[Nail'Em]]

* [[Negative Space Wedgie]]: The Zone, which is what happens when you try to compress infinite dimensions into just three. As it turns out, it doesn't work out well at all.

* [[Orcus on His Throne]]: Hastur. Sure, the Rapine Storm does all of his dirty work, but if a Great Old One - even a weakened one - actually entered the [[Melee a Trois]] himself, it would be over very quickly. It's implied that he's actually ''unable'' to leave his domain on the Plateau of Leng, but he's an [[Eldritch Abomination]], so it's hard to say for certain.

* [[Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions]]: Subverted. In the time of the Strange Aeon, Christianity and Islam are effectively dead, but most people are very much spiritual. Also, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism are still around, essentially unchanged.

* [[Petting Zoo People]]: The Horned Ones are a rather disturbing kind of this.

** Hastur's avatar, the Ragged King.

** Nyarlathotep as well, being the physical avatar of the soul and messenger of Outer Gods.

* [[Plot Armor]]: Yog-Sothoth's Guard is designed to be used as this. It grants [[Nigh Invulnerable|Nigh Invulnerability]] and immunity from any kind of restraint to a character for five minutes, is completely indestructible, and is, by design, extremely inconvenient for PCs to use (though it's not impossible if they're planning ahead and willing to spend a significant amount of money in exchange for guaranteed victory). In any published adventure that includes an NPC with the Guard, the writers will put in a statement to the effect of "[[Railroading|keep this guy alive regardless of what the players do]]."

* [[Power Incontinence]]: When para-psychics overexert themselves, they can enter a state called Burning, wherein they can still use their powers... With the catch that their powers don't turn ''off'' for quite a while. Zoners are in a ''permanent state'' of Burning, so you can probably figure out why they're considered a public menace.

** For reference, a para-psychic whose skill at pyrokinesis can barely heat up cold coffee are capable of making ''a house explode'' when they Burn. No pun intended.

* [[Powered by a Forsaken Child]]: [[Q Batteries]]. Gotta love the Chrysalis Corporation!

* [[Proud Warrior Race Guy]]: Pick a Nazzadi, though they are a subdued example-see [[Warrior Poet]] below.

* [[Psychic Powers]]: Parapsychics, who can vary quite a lot in power. At the low end, they can keep their coffee hot. At the high end, they can crush a [[Humongous Mecha]] into a little tin can, set fire to [[Kill It with Fire|entire buildings]] with a thought, and [[Mind Rape|rebuild your personality]] from the ground up. For this reason, they're subject to mandatory registration with the [[State Sec|OIS]], and those with powers deemed ''Dangerous'' or ''Invasive'' have to wear public identity tags. On the plus side, both the government and corporations ''love'' their abilities, so they tend to migrate to high paying jobs.

* [[The Quisling]]: Many people who believe (perhaps correctly) that humanity will lose the Aeon War become this. Despairing Humans tend to go to the cults, and Nazzadi seek to return to the Migou's service, believing that they will be spared if they work for their former masters. If they aren't killed outright, the Nazzadi [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|tend not to last long.]]

** There are indications that the cults are the ones who set it up this way, and simply want to make it worse.

* [[State Sec]]: The Office of Internal Security. They're ''supposed'' to just be the police for [[Functional Magic]]-related crimes, but ''in practice'', they seem a lot more like a more democratic [[Nineteen Eighty-Four|Ministry of Love]], which is probably a good thing considering what kind of enemies they have.

* [[STD Immunity]]: STDs have essentially been eradicated in the NEG, and any new outbreaks can be quickly solved with a little arcanotherapy.

** Even psychiatry has its limits.

* [[Transhuman Aliens]]: Humanity is in the process to doing this to itself. Dhohanoids are examples of this. Tagers are examples of this. Engels (which use human and Nazzadi DNA in their template) are examples of this. Deep One Hybrids are an example of this. Even the fact that humanity is acclimatising to the unnatural, that it can do things that would have driven earlier humans mad, is an example of this.

* [[Warrior Poet]]: The Nazzadi were specifically created by the Migou to be intelligent ass-kickers, and it shows.

** Also, one of the things that gnaws at the Nazzadi is that as a cloned race with no members chronologically in their 40s, they have no true culture of their own, and are desperate to create one. Therefore, any of the 2nd generation Nazzadi who take up one of the arts are ''highly'' prized by their families and the Nazzadi as a whole.

* [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]]: Engel Pilots? Check. Sorcerers? Check. Zoner Parapsychics? Check-''squared''.

* [[White-Haired Pretty Boy|White-Haired]] [[White-Haired Pretty Girl|Pretty People]]: The Whites, a rare type of xenomix known as Sidoci. They all start with the Alluring asset, and are [[Captain Obvious|white head to toe]], meaning skin, hair and even eyes are white. They also are para-psychics since birth.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Science Fiction Tabletop Games]]

[[Category:Tabletop Games]]