Character Creation: Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed

Well, I've had to cancel two games already because I feel like toasted ass, and I'm hoping I don't have to cancel my Monday game as well. So in the meanwhile...

IN THE FOURTH GAME OF XMAS, TWENTY-TWENTY-FIVE, 
FOUR ELDER GODS,
THREE BIRDS WITH TITS,
TWO CORVID COURTS
AND CAIRN 2ND ED THE OSR GAME!

The Game: Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed
The Publisher: Chaosium Inc.
Degree of Familiarity: I've played it once or twice, though I don't think it was this edition
Books Required: Just the one

Call of Cthulhu is one of those OG games. If you ask for an investigative horror game, as much as I would love people to say Chill, they're probably gonna say CoC. It's actually not mechanically dissimilar to Chill - percentage, roll-under, and this edition even breaks successes down much the same way (I have no idea if that's how previous editions of this game worked). I've played it on occasion, usually at cons or one-shots, but I have no specific memories of what any of those games entailed. Seem to recall I played a pre-gen character who was Inuit or something at one point? 

System-wise, it's serviceable but it's too mathy for my taste, and if I want a Mythos-based RPG I'd definitely run Trail of Cthulhu instead. But I am comfy beneath my weighted blanket, got my online dice-roller and a fillable character sheet, let's fuckin' GO. 

Easy enough. We start by rolling characteristics, and we have to do them in order because they don't all use the same roll (some are 3d6 x 5, some are (2d6 + 6) x 5). 

Strength: 3d6 x 5 gives us...80, holy shit! I'm a muscle ma-han. 

Oh my god, this sheet automatically does the math for the "half the stat" and "1/5 the stat" boxes, fuck my giddy aunt. 

Anyway, Constitution, once again, 3d6 x 5...55. Pretty respectable. 

Dexterity is the same math...50. Still doing OK.

Size (yes, there's a stat for size) is 2d6+6 and then multiply that total by 5, so: 80. Oof, my dude is lorge. 

Intelligence is 2d6 + 6 (times 5), 65. Education, likewise, 50. The book says that 60 suggests a high school graduate, so maybe a 50 is an elementary school education (which, given that we're assume the 1920s here, isn't too big a stretch). 

Appearance (which I would normally groan at, but it's basically just the social stat) and Power (magicky stuff) are both 3d6 x 5, so (rolling) those are 35 (ugh) and 65, respectively. Oh, so is Luck, so...55.

Age I get to decide. Well, let's assume we're in 1924 right now. Obviously this guy can't be too young or too old (I mean, he could, but he's huge), so let's say he's 30? That puts him born in 1894. That also means all I do to account for the age is make an improvement check for EDU (if I were older or younger, other stats might change). How does one make an improvement check? Oh, one rolls d% and tries to get over one's EDU score. Hang on....44, nope. So close. Moving on!

Oh my goodness, this sheet figures shit like damage bonuses, too. Glorious. 

Anyway, on to the next step: Occupation! Let's see now. My guy is 30, he's not terribly well educated (but he's not uneducated, he's pretty smart, and he's goddamn huge. What's a good occupation for him? Probably working in an automotive factory, honestly. Let's say he's a factory worker and kind of an unofficial foreman. We're about a decade from the UAW here, so he's just the guy that talks to management because he's scary.

Ha, there's not a "factory worker" in the list of occupations. Amusingly, there's not even a "laborer". We've got "farmer" and "drifter," but no simple "worker." Weird. OK, how hard is it to make this up? Not at all, it's just a collection of starting Skills. Book says to keep it eight, so let's do that.

I'll fudge it and take Intimidate, since that's part of what he does at work. Mechanical Repair, definitely. I'll take Operate Heavy Machinery, and I guess Climb and Jump? Not that he's doing a lot of that at work, but just because he's fit? Having trouble picking professional skills that fit, here. I'll throw Drive (Auto) in there, too. He probably doesn't own a car, but knows how to drive.

Which moves us briskly along to Step Three: Skills! I get a number of points determined by some math (every occupation has one, but it's usually based on EDU) which I can then spend on my professional skills. Hokay. What's my math? Probably EDU x 2 + STR + 2, right? That would give me 260 points. 

I've only got 6 professional skills. Dividing them up evenly would give me 43 in each with 2 left over, but I don't know that I want to do that. Let's start with 40 in each of them? Nah, let's bump Climb and Jump down to 15 and put those points into Operate Heavy Machinery and Mechanical Repair, which puts them both to 65. And then we'll reduce Drive Auto to 20 (like I said, he knows how, but doesn't really drive much) and put those 20 points into Intimidate. That gives me:

Intimidate 60
Operate Heavy Machinery 65
Mechanical Repair 65
Climb 15
Jump 15
Drive (Auto) 20 

Oh, wait, still 20 low. Well, I'll put 10 each back into Jump and Climb so I'm not so pathetic in them.

Oh, wait again, shit, I forgot Credit Rating! Well, I can't imagine he makes much, so let's take those 10 points out of Climb and Jump again and give ourselves Credit Rating 20.

Right, now we get INT x 2 in whatever Skills we want. That's 130 points, that's not too shabby. I guess I should think a little about concept, huh? I mean, you don't get to be this guy's size without some physical training, so he can probably fight a little. Let's put 30 into Brawl. Let's put 30 into Electrical Repair; figure he knows something about it. Hell, let's lean into the "proto-union" thing and put 10 into Law, 20 into Library Use, and 30 into Persuade. That leaves me 10. I'll put them into Dodge, I suppose.

And now we create a backstory. My guy's name is Ted McGee, but most folks call him "Big Ted." Big Ted is from Youngstown (hometown adjusted as necessary for the story, of course), and worked in a motor pool during WWI. He came back to the States (he's always been embarrassed that he learned, like, no French, but he was mostly around other GIs) after the war and got work in a factory in Youngstown. He's starting to get noticed by the suits, which is going to result either in him getting offered a promotion or getting thrown in a trunk at some point (assuming that a) they can find a trunk big enough and b) that he doesn't get eaten by a nightgaunt or something first). 

Big Ted is about 6'8", and very wide - broad shoulders, thick torso, big arms. His nose is too big for his face, his ears are too small, and while his body proportions are right his facial ones aren't, and it makes him look weird (hence the lower APP score). He's one of those guys that isn't really experienced at fighting, but he kinda doesn't need to be because most people think twice about taking a swing. The other thing is that people tend to think he's big n' dumb, but Ted's actually pretty sharp. He tends to trip over his own tongue a little if he hasn't had time to rehearse what he's saying (he's got very little game with the ladies). 

Why would Big Ted get involved in investigator shenanigans? I think he'd be motivated by one of his buddies at the factory needing help, especially if it initially seemed like the company was doing something shady.  

OK, that's pretty good. Last step: Equip your investigafuck. OK, fine. Actually, it's not that bad, I don't have to shop. Figure that Big Ted carries a jackknife for utility or emergencies, he wears sturdy clothes and good boots, and he walks or hitchhikes to get around. Mostly walks; he's noted a lot of people don't stop to pick up giants.