CRYPTWORLD House Rules

Below are some of my house rules I've used to good effect in my CRYPTWORLD games. I'm sharing these so other Crypt Masters (CMs) can give them a try and decide if they appeal to their tastes. Feel free to pick and choose (or totally ignore).

STARTING SKILL SELECTION

In CRYPTWORLD, the number of skills a Player Character (PC) starts with is randomly determined by rolling 1d10 and consulting the table of p. 11 of Chapter 2: Characters. While this works perfectly fine, it always felt a little too random for my tastes, especially considering that the starting number of paranormal talents has a little more verisimilitude to back it up by linking the values of Basic Attributes (specifically PCN and WPR) to the number of paranormal talents a PC can access. Below are three alternate ways of determining a PC's starting number of skills I have used, with my personal preference being the last.

1. All PCs start with 5 starting skills (the average number of starting skills rounded up). Recommended for games set in the modern era and beyond.

2. All PCs start with 4 starting skills (the average number of starting skills rounded down). Recommended for games set in earlier eras.

3. Starting skills are determined by a PC's PCN (Perception) score. Note that with this method Basic Ability scores, profession, and one profession-related skill must be determined BEFORE selecting other skills in the character creation steps. PCs determine number of starting skills from the following table:

PCN	Starting Skills
26-39	3
40-59	4
60-69	5
70-80	6

IMPROVISED WEAPONS

Steve knows!

Who doesn't love a good bar fight? Smashing a beer bottle on the bar and wielding it like a knife, or throwing a bottle of Jack Daniels at someone's head? And during the zombie apocalypse, sometimes you need to protect yourself by grabbing whatever is handy to use as a makeshift weapon, be it baseball bat, 9-iron, or garden pitchfork. You could even break the blade handle off of an office paper cutter and use it like a machete. Here's a quick rule of thumb I like to use:

Any character may use an appropriate object not normally classified as a weapon as an impromptu melee or missile weapon using their Unskilled Melee score or DEX score (for missiles) at a -20 penalty modifier. If they have a relevant Combat Skill (e.g. Dagger/Knife when using a broken bottle, Short-handled Weapons when using a baseball bat, Sword when using a office paper cutter blade handle as a machete), the penalty to their Unskilled Melee score or DEX score is reduced to -10.

CONCLUSION
So there you have it, feel free to give these for a spin the next time you break out CRYPTWORLD. If you do, please let me know what you thought in the comments, or feel free to share some of your own CRYPTWORLD house rules. Thanks for reading!

CRYPTWORLD Burial Plots Now On Kickstarter

Just a quick post to boost the signal for Goblinoid Games' latest Kickstarter for Burial Plots, a compilation of five adventures for the CRYPTWORLD horror roleplaying game. Written by Tim Snider, these adventures are also compatible with the original 1984 Pacesetter edition of the horror roleplaying game CHILL*. If you are a fan of CRYPTWORLD or just looking for some great horror adventures to adapt for your own horror campaign, please check it out!

And don't forget to visit Tim Snider's blog The Savage Afterworld for a closer look at the origins behind these original adventures!


*CHILL is a trademark of Martin Caron and is used here without permission. No infringement on this trademark is intended or implied. Goblinoid Games and CRYPTWORLD are not affiliated with Martin Caron or CHILL.