Investigator Attributes - LunarNeil/Call-of-Cthulhu-Campaign GitHub Wiki
The default Call of Cthulhu campaign materials use a system where Skills grow as a result of use, with no "point buy" mechanic or Sanity Points the way our campaign uses them. For further information on how Sanity points are gained and managed, please see the " While I have chosen to simplify the process (removing the random nature of it with and using a purchase and upgrade system) I think the "Use to Improve" concept is appealing and thematic, so our Investigator Skill Advancement rules is as follows:
- Skill Advancement Through Dramatic Usage
When the use of a Skill on an important or dramatic Skill check yields a result you find "interesting", put a mark in that skill's Check Box to note that you have tested your abilities. When your Keeper hands out Sanity Points, you may request that this ability improves as a result of your experience. If the Keeper approves, you can pay the Sanity cost to advance the Skill by another half-step. Now erase the mark from the Check Box.
- Skill Advancement Through Narrative Time Skip
When the Investigators are allowed a long period of recovery time (at least a month) Keepers may give you several Sanity Points to spend on the results of your recovery time activities. You may request that your Investigator has been rigorously practicing their Skills during this time, and if the Keeper approves, you may pay the Sanity cost to advance the approved Skills by as many much as you wish.
- Skill Advancement Through Trait Gain
Some rare situations exist where a Trait will alter a Skill, increasing or decreasing the amount that the skill modifier offers during Conflict Resolution. Such modifiers apply directly to the Investigator's skill, not to the Conflict Resolution roll, and so they do not violate the "One Positive, One Negative" rule for applying modifiers in Conflict Resolution.
-Investigator Attributes
Investigators are created using an Archetype, which is a basic character sketch that is itself built out of a few major Attributes that define what the Archetype does well, what it does poorly, and what character quirks it has by default. These Attributes are Skills, Traits, and Obsessions:
These define the things you can do either through natural talent, hard work, or knowledge. Skills are most notable for the beneficial modifiers they provide in Conflict Resolution. Every Investigator is going to have several skills associated to their occupation, interests, hobbies and experiences. Skills are relatively easy to pick up, but hard to master.
These are unusual physical or mental characteristics that can assist or hinder you. Traits are hard to pick up, you either have them or you don't, and the most common way to gain a Trait is by losing something else. Having an eye or an arm torn away by an abomination, developing a permanent psychosis, or taking on a strange fishlike appearance are all the kinds of Traits that Investigators generally prefer to avoid gaining. Traits come into play primarily in the special roleplaying opportunities they offer, but they do at times carry a special effect, such as water-breathing through your new neck gills.
These are personality traits that drive you, nearly to the point of irrationality. Obsessions don't need to be a sign of madness, but they tend to grow stronger as one's mental health erodes and their willpower grows weaker. Though generally a hindrance, obsessions are advantageous in one major way: they give the Investigator something more powerful than their fear, something inside them that drives them on. In just the right circumstances this weakness can be a tremendous strength.
Those cover nearly the whole spectrum of things a player has to worry about when roleplaying their Investigator. There are other sections to the character sheet that have places to write down additional items of interest, like the Investigator's long-term goals, but these aren't required. Investigators will also collect Clues, Secrets and Lore, and own equipment, but the above three Attributes cover all of the core character information.