Modern Mythos with Jon and Seth Modern Mythos with Jon & Seth - Ep. 6
Aug 16, 2021
They debate milestone leveling versus traditional tick-and-roll skill growth and imagine milestone point pools and hybrid systems for Call of Cthulhu. They argue whether PC death should be rare or a learning tool, discuss lethal combat mechanics, meaningful versus pointless deaths, and practical ways to bring replacement characters into long campaigns.
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Milestone Point Pools For CoC
- Try milestone leveling by giving a fixed pool of points (e.g., 40–60) at chapter/mystery conclusions for players to spend.
- Limit points on used skills higher (e.g., up to 10) and on unused skills lower (e.g., 3–5) to reward playstyle.
Milestone Leveling Can Undermine Skill Incentives
- Milestone leveling flattens rewards so passive players get equal improvement despite lower engagement.
- Seth argues this undermines Call of Cthulhu's tick mechanic which incentivizes using skills during play.
Keeper Reserve To Patch Bad Luck
- Keep rolling skill improvements as written, but add a small Keeper reserve (e.g., ~15 points) to award specific deserving skills.
- Use reserves to correct bad luck and reward clever or campaign-changing actions.