Ex Stasis Games

Another day, another little guy! Day 10 of #CharacterCreationChallenge is High School Cthulhu, by Gear Games. This is, as the name implies, a TTRPG bringing together the tropes and staples of teen drama, the Cthulhu Mythos, and… the 90s. If this works, I think it might be Monsterhearts with more direction (I really struggle with WTF I’m supposed to do in a game of Monsterhearts). If not… I dunno, I’ll probably have fun anyway.

Now, as an actual teen in the 90s, I think I probably need to be drunk to get through this, because I am going to feel old. But I’m sober, so here goes nothing.

Let’s Do This

I have become accustomed to a certain natural flow to character creation, and High School Cthulhu works a bit differently. There’s a quick “this is how the system works” page, which I do not believe should be nested in Character Creation, but preliminary to it. There’s an overview, but no page references.

STEP 1: NAME

Argh, I don’t know who I’m playing yet. I do know that one of the big character choices is clique, so it would be easy to jump right into my teen-goth comfort zone, but I don’t know what else is on offer yet. I’m going to call them Nik Ross, and we’ll see whether they develop a gender in a later step.

STEP 2: STYLE

OK, here’s the clique bit.

There are eight “styles”: jock, cheerleader, nerd, goth, self-made, rebel, gangsta, and daddy’s kid. Gangsta is an immediate small yikes, but given that this is an Italian game, I grant some leniency on matters of translation and cultural difference. Also, the 90s were awful. There are two styles for each of the four attributes: brawn, smooth, school, and street.

I’m going nerd. Theatre kid, literature fan, and budding Cthulhu Mythos researcher.

I get the School attribute, and I get 10 Skill Points, presumably to distribute between the Skills listed for the Style? Or do I get a rank in each, since there are 10 listed? I’m going to assume the latter, but I am in no way certain. I get to pick a trait from the nerd list, too. I take Bookworm: Nik’s very much at home in a library.

I have nothing against making character creation the first thing in a book, but if you do, it’s got to be self-explanatory or have really good hand-holding. The Mothership zine I used on Day 8 is a top-tier example. This is a trust exercise.

On the other hand, nerds get a 56k internet connection, which is a delightful throwback.

STEP 3: JOURNEY

There are three Journeys for each Style. The nerd’s are Top of the Class, Techie, and Know It All. I go for Know It All. Nik doesn’t mean to be, but they definitely are.

Now, I’m just saying, if I was making this I’d have detached the Journeys from the Styles, which allows a greater range of character choices and also makes more complex, multifaceted characters.

I get another Attribute (Smooth – which is going to help work in that theatre kid idea), another 10 Skills (again, there are 10 listed so I assume it’s 1 each), and this time 2 Traits from a list. By the time I’m done with Skills, I’ve got outstanding School abilities, a fair smattering of Smooth and Street skills, and basically no physical prowess whatsoever. Fuckin’ nerd.

For my 2 Journey traits, I take Unsolicited Advice (help an ally, whether they want it or not) and Walking Encyclopedia (self-explanatory: brain full of useless knowledge).

STEP 4: GUARDIAN

Nik lives with their mom, who is a tenured anthropology professor at a local college (is Innsmouth, our setting, close enough to Miskatonic? Let’s say yes). She’s away a lot, very much in love with her work. Nik’s dad is not on the scene. A child of divorce, I think.

STEP 5: BOND

This is a connection to another student, so I’m skipping it.

STEP 6: ANCHOR

This is a connection to one of the “great people” of Innsmouth. There is a bookmark for this, so I go diving.

Antonis Martinius Frostwick (an apparently Scottish name), a former consultant for Miskatonic U and a translator of esoteric (and just European) texts is an easy pick. He’s an acquaintance of Nik’s mom, and lodged with them for a few months after he moved to Innsmouth. Nik has a minor (and completely unrequited) crush on Professor Frostwick. (I’m not sure you can be a professor without a post at a university, but sssshhh. Again, translation.)

STEP 7: STORY

This is a combination of Guardian, Bond, and Anchor, which means it’s kind of already written. Nik’s a lonely teenager who seeks comfort in old books, and longs for the attention and approval of adults. They probably think of themselves as “an old soul” but, honestly, they’re just unpractised at socialising with people their own age.

Nik’s staying as a “they.” It’s not period accurate: we were not, in the ‘90s, highly aware of identities outside the binary, but I can imagine a better world, mmkay?

The game suggests adding a Dark Secret at this stage. Nik’s is that they once cursed a bully using a spell in an old book they found in the library – which has now disappeared. It worked: they ruined the guy’s football career.

STEP 8: ATTRIBUTE AND SKILL POINTS

I’ve got 2 extra Skill points to place wherever I want. I lean in hard to what I’m good at and max out General Knowledge and Study. Dusty libraries full of forbidden tomes, here I come!

STEP 9: INVENTORY

Look, I already did this when I chose a Style. I have a utility knife, two (?) cameras, and a home internet connection.

STEP 10: TRAITS

I… already did these too.

STEP 11: GUTS AND MIRACLES

Guts are a resource gained by playing through tough of emotional situation, giving you an edge on dice rolls. Miracles are hard to get but let you take momentary narrative control. I start with 1 of each.

There’s other stuff to know – grit, conditions and The Spiral Of Madness (huh, second “spiral” mechanic in two days… if I had a nickel…), but it only matters during play so I will learn about it in due course.

And with that, Nik’s done.

Not gonna lie, I found this a confusing process. The step-by-step summary isn’t detailed or well-linked enough, and the book’s instructions aren’t always the most helpful. Nik exists, but I have no idea who they are yet. I could definitely play them, and they’d take shape, but it feels like High School Cthulhu expects me to know more about them than I do, but hasn’t given me all the tools and sparks to make them.

Still. It’s fine. I have a character, and I’d happily play ‘em.