Cthulhutech [Hardcover]

As someone else mentioned at first glance one would never expect this game to work. Most of the time the Cthulhu mythos fits into the early 20th century and to many people a futuristic setting for the mythos is absolutely crazy, and of course it is crazy, it just somehow works wonderfully here.

Basically human kind has progressed far enough to warrant attention from the Migou who have decided to stop by for a visit while at the same time the Esoteric Order of Dagon has begun to rise from the sea and say hello (Hastur and his minions are also present but so far none of our games have really dealt with them). If none of this makes sense the important bit is that now humans are fighting multiple wars and losing each one, we are only alive because our aggressors consider each other bigger problems than us.

The game system itself is a bit odd at first glance, an easy way to think of it is that you are playing poker with ten-sided dice, but after actually playing the system is surprisingly quick and easy. The system is largely skill based and the higher your skill in an area to more dice you roll (however the max dice you can roll is 5).

From someone who is often a player and sometimes a storyteller this game has been wonderful for my group which has been getting rather tired of D&D. There is an asset/flaw system that actually really helps give your character more depth rather than just being a tool for min/maxing and the wide variation in useful possibilities helps everyone feel unique and not like they are just a specific "build" (something that 4th edition D&D keeps giving me a problem with).

Furthermore it has something that interests everyone. For me there is of course the mythos, the character driven and horror feel, and the ability to play a hard boiled detective with a few cool gadgets. For others there are the giant robots (there are giant robots by the way) and a dash of cyberpunk and anime.

CthulhuTech provides dismal setting of what appears to be the last days of humanity, and it is absolutely wonderful.

Oh and you only have to buy this one book to run the whole game, of course there are supplements and such but this book provides everything needed for both players and the storyteller.

Cthulhutech is a game that made a lot of people do a double-take when it was first announced. The bleak, sanity-blasting horror of the Cthulhu Mythos mixed with anime influences such as Neon Genesis Evangelion, Guyver, and Macross? It sounded bizarre and to many unfamiliar with the game, it still does.

But I'm here to say that the game absolutely takes the seemingly incompatible parts and makes an incredible whole. The setting takes place in the future when the Earth is under attack on all sides from foul cults, arrogant and disturbing aliens, and incomprehensible monsters. Things look grim, but humanity is still managing to hang on and survive.

There are a lot of different playstyles, anything from street level investigations (similar to classic Call of Cthulhu) to giant mecha military campaigns to government special forces to secret society operatives bonded with extra dimensional beings to fight evil. The mechanics are new, but not terribly difficult to understand. Further, the art for the game is gorgeous and really draws you in to the setting.

I never thought that someone could combine such disparate genres - Horror, Science Fiction, Mecha and the Cthlhu Mythos - into one game.I remember when this game first came out and I found out what it was about that I snorted in disbelief and turned away from it. Oh how short sighted. :)

After awhile I finally purchased the game here at Amazon.com (thank you for the on time and hassle free shipping by the way) and after a week or two found the time to sit down and read it. It shocked me. Cthulhu mythos meets Evangelion meets Gundam (etc.) meets well, if you can think of a genre or idea its probably in here somewhere or in a supplement.

The game system is smooth and fairly easy to learn. There are no complicated charts or even very complicated ideas or rules to figure out. Everything is presented in a easy to read format. Even the background information is presented in as concise and quick a fashion as possible so as not to leave the reader overwhelmed with the material (as some of the White Wolf World of Darkness/Exalted products have left me feeling in the past).

I would say that this is on a par with the best Exalted material that White Wolf has published.

This game is a very high quality product and I cannot recommend it enough to anyone who enjoys any of the genres it is based on. Easily 5 out of 5 stars.