Editing Rising Sun Eternal

=Campaign Overview=

This is the campaign Wiki for adventures in a Classical Japan setting, run on a fork of the Cthulhu Eternal SRD. 

I've been a huge fan of the Cthulhu Eternal project since its inception. I've enjoyed ''Apocthulhu'' enormously, and I completely endorse the principle of a Cthulhu Mythos SRD based on the huge legacy of material developed since the first editions of ''Call of Cthulhu'' in the 1980s. In my opinion, it comprises one of the simplest and most elegant rulesets in the d100/BRP tradition, as well as one with a huge corpus of applicable material. I've worked on developing this for  various other time periods and settings, including Dark Ages, and now, feudal Japan.

'''A Word on the Title'''

I'm not a devout Shintoist, but I do remember and love the original edition of Lee Gold's ''Land of the Rising Sun''. This setting is not intended to be anything like as dense and crunchy as that volume, but I still find it a tremendous inspiration.

=Helpful Resources=

These are the pages for creating characters, following the campaign, and generally working out specifics in the rules.

*[https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Rising_Sun_Eternal:_Character_Creation Creating Characters for Rising Sun Eternal]
*[https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Rising_Sun_Eternal:_Magic The magic system for Rising Sun Eternal]
*[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/cthulhu-eternal-better-light-a-candle.895436/ In Character Thread]
*[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/cthulhu-eternal-better-light-a-candle.895435/ Out of Character Thread]
*[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?threads/recruitment-interest-cthulhu-gaslight-eternal-paladins-of-the-paranormal.895164/ Recruitment Thread]
*[https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/384108/Cthulhu-Eternal--Victorian-Era-SRD Cthulhu Eternal Victorian Era SRD] 
*[https://cthulhureborn.files.wordpress.com/2020/12/apocthulhu-system-reference-document-v0.666-1.pdf/ Apocthulhu SRD]
*[https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Cthulhu_Eternal_Victorian_Age_Character_Page Wiki template for Cthulhu Eternal Victorian Age characters]

= Combat =

The basic mechanics of combat do not vary much between different localizations of Cthulhu Eternal, but each has its own tables of weapons and armor as well as elaborations which cover unique forms of conflict or weapons technology.

== Attack Skills ==

For games in Dark Age settings, the following skills are used for combat attacks:

• Use '''Missile Weapons''' for a primitive firearm if these exist in your setting;

• Use '''Missile Weapons''' for other aimed weapons (e.g., bow or crossbow);

• Use '''Athletics''' for a thrown weapon;

• Use '''Melee Weapons''' for a hand-to-hand weapon;

• Use '''Unarmed Combat''' for a punch or kick.

== Weapons for Japan settings ==

== Table of Example Weapons ==

The tables below summarize some representative weapons and vehicles that characters might have access to. Note that while the concept of LETHAL DAMAGE still exists, it is primarily applied to explosives, poisons, or siege engines (like catapults or mangonels).

Also, this setting does not have a specific skill for Ranged Weapons – characters who are firing crossbows etc .should use the Missile Weapons skill to aim such weapons, while thrown weapons use Athletics as a combat skill.

{|
| &gt;&gt; Melee Weapons
|
|-
| Sample Weapons
| Damage
|-
| Bare hands and feet
| 1D4–1*
|-
| Kick from heavy boot
| 1D4*
|-
| Tanto, hatchet, jo, sai
| 1D4*
|-
| Wakazashi, kama, hand axe
| 1D6*
|-
| Katana, yari, bo
| 1D8*
|-
| Tachi, ono
| 1D10*
|-
| Nodachi, tetsubo, naginata
| 2D6*
|}

*Damage bonus is added for this weapon

{|
| &gt;&gt; Ranged Weapons
|
|
|
|-
| Sample Weapons
| Skill
| Damage
| Base Range
|-
| Daikyu
| Missile Weapons
| 2D6
| 200 yards
|-
| Hankyu
| Missile Weapons
| 1D8
| 100 yards
|-
| Shuriken
| Athletics
| 1D3*
| 20 yards
|-
| Thrown Spear
| Athletics
| 1D8*
| STR×5 yards
|}

*Damage bonus is added for this weapon

{|
| &gt;&gt; Explosives
|
|
|
|-
| Sample Weapons
| Placement Skill
| Damage
| Base Range
|-
| Incendiary catapult shot
| Military Training
| Lethality 20%
| 2 yards
|}

== Armor for Japan settings ==

{|
| Armor
| Armor Rating
|-
| Heavy Robes or Leather Jerkin
| 1
|-
| Do-Maru Armor
| 3
|-
| Wall or thick door
| 5
|-
| Full suit of Yoroi Armor
| 5
|-
| Thick wall, rubble, or moderate rock; siege shield
| 10
|-
| Reinforced wall, big rock, or earth embankment
| 15
|}

== Healing in Dark Age settings ==

A doctor can attempt a '''Medicine''' test once per week. If treatment succeeds, the patient recovers 1D4 HP. This is doubled with a critical, while a fumble inflicts 1D4 HP damage. At the Game Moderator’s discretion, having worn-out tools or poor quality medicines may incur a penalty.

== Poisons and Diseases ==

The rules governing the damage inflicted by poisons and diseases don’t vary between localizations, but the specific list of available toxins and infections is guided by the technology and knowledge prevalent in the setting. The table below gives some examples to augment the basic list of common, naturally-occurring poisons.

{|
| &gt;&gt; Manufactured Poisons
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| Poison
| Entry Route
| Speed
| Lethality
| Symptoms
| Antidote?
|-
| Antimony
| Contact
| 1D6 hours
| 10%
| Pain, diarrhea, cramping
| No
|-
| Prussic Acid (Hydrogen cyanide)
| Inhalation or Ingestion
| 1D6 turns
| 20%
| Asphyxiation
| No, but some treatments
|-
| Strychnine
| Inhalation, Ingestion, Contact
| 10+1D10 minutes
| 10%
| Convulsions, paralysis, asphyxiation
| No
|}

{|
| &gt;&gt; Sample Diseases
|
|
|
|
|
|
|-
| Disease
| Route
| Speed
| CON Test Penalty
| Damage
| Symptoms
| Cure
|-
| Bacterial meningitis
| Airborne
| 1D6 days
| –40
| 1D4
| Stiff neck, nausea, confusion
| No; treatment includes lumbar puncture and induced vomiting.
|-
| Bacterial pneumonia
| Inhalation
| 1D6 days
| None
| 1D6
| Cough, fever, chills
| No
|-
| Cholera
| Ingestion, especially unclean water
| 2+1D3 days
| None
| 1D6
| Watery diarrhea, cramps, vomiting.
| No; treated through rehydration
|-
| Gangrene
| Dirty wounds
| 1D6 days
| –20
| 1D4
| Discoloration, oozing, numbness
| Bromine injections, excision, or amputation
|-
| Plague
| Flea bite (bubonic plague), inhalation (pneumonic plague)
| 1D6 days
| None
| 1D6
| Fever, chills, lymph node swelling, coughing (if pneumonic), shock
| No
|-
| Smallpox
| Exposure to infected person
| 2D6 days
| –40
| 1D6
| Fever, vomiting, ulcers, rashes, scabs
| No
|}

== Additional Combat Rules for Japan settings ==

== Optional Spot Rules for Weapons ==

There’s a staggering variety of personal Melee and Missile Weapons and weaponry. Their usefulness in adventures may be limited, of course, depending on who or what the Protagonists face.

The primary game statistics relating to different types of weapons may be found on the Example Weapons Table. The availability of any class of weapon will be dictated by resources available in the locality, local traditions, etc.

The many lists of weapon types, damages, etc., created for other d100 or other RPGs can easily be tapped for this setting – there are many options and most are easily rejigged, if not already compatible.

What follows are some spot rules for Protagonists who have access to common Japan era weapons.

=== Concealing Weapons ===

Knives and coshes can be concealed under ordinary clothing. Someone deliberately looking for a concealed weapon can attempt an '''Alertness''' test to spot it. A Ninja folding bow or especially big knife means a +20% Alertness bonus.

If a Protagonist is wearing a heavy cape, he or she can attempt to conceal a hankyu bow, or a larger hand weapon (e.g., a hatchet or katana) and incur no Alertness bonus.

There’s no way to conceal a spear or other large melee weapon.

=== Hand-to-Hand Weapons ===

Unarmed attacks, like punching, kicking, and strangling, use the '''Unarmed''' Combat skill. All melee weapons use the '''Melee Weapons''' skill.

=== Ranged Weapons and Reloading ===

Ranged weapons that are aimed and loosed (e.g., bows) use the '''Missile Weapons''' skill. All such weapons require some kind of ammunition (arrows) and are useless if the supply is exhausted. Ranged weapons that are thrown (e.g., spears) use '''Athletics''' skill.

The Protagonists may have easy access to a range of different Missile Weapons. These require reloading, but times differ according to the type of weapon. For a simple bow, it would take one turn to ready a new shot after firing; the readied arrow would be fired in the next turn.

=== Weapon Specialization ===

Any Protagonist who already has a weapons skill can sacrifice points from that skill, or any other skill, to specialize exclusively in a particular weapon. They automatically gain a +1 damage bonus in that weapon, plus access to any special capabilities that weapon has. Some examples of such weapons are as follows.

{|
| Weapon
| Skill
| Damage
| Special capability
|-
| Tessen
| Melee Weapons
| 1D3
| Defend: all parries and defensive moves get +20%
|-
| Kusari-fundo
| Melee Weapons
| 1D4
| Entangle: with success, instead of damage, do STR vs STR to immobilize
|-
| Kusarigama
| Melee Weapons
| 1D6
| Entangle: with success, instead of damage, do STR vs STR to trip
|-
| Sodegarami
| Melee Weapons
| 1D8
| Entangle: with success, instead of damage, do STR vs STR to immobilize
|-
| Thrown Spear
| Melee Weapons
| 1D8*
| STR×5 yards
|}

Without

= Equipment and Resources =

Protagonists’ efforts to scrounge for scarce supplies or items, or attempt to solve problems by combining items with jury-rigging, use the following. The primary mechanical differences lie in the specific skills used.

For Protagonists in Japan games:

• Attempts to '''scrounge gear/supplies''' from likely locations in the environment – tests against the '''Scavenge''' skill.

• Attempts to '''jury-rig''' a contraption – tests against '''Craft skill specializations or Mechanics (at the GM's discretion)'''.

== Vehicles ==

The table below provides some examples of the types of vehicles common to Japan.

=== Speed ===

Vehicles in Japan all fall into the category of Surface Vehicles, regardless of whether they travel on land on water.

When comparing Surface Vehicles, however, there is a range of different vehicle speeds. A vehicle with a ‘Fast’ rating grants a +20% bonus to any '''Drive''' or '''Pilot''' test to pursue or escape. A ‘Slow’ vehicle incurs a −20% penalty instead, while a ‘Very Slow’ vehicle attracts a -40% penalty. An ‘Average’ rating confers no modifier.

A vehicle that’s notorious for poor handling or that’s in bad shape might counts as ‘heavily worn’ or ‘junk’ (see above) at the GM’s discretion.

=== Some Example Vehicles ===

{|
| &gt;&gt; Example Vehicles
|
|
|
|
|-
| Vehicle Type
| Description
| Hit Points
| Armor
| Speed
|-
| Coach
| Two-wheeled, drawn by 2+ horses harnessed as a team
| 20—25
| 2
| Average
|-
| Wagon, Horse-Drawn
| Four-wheeled vehicle for cargo; drawn by a team
| 20—25
| 1
| Slow
|-
| Water Vehicles
|
|
|
|
|-
| Barge
| Long boat hauled along rivers by horses
| 30
| 4
| V. Slow
|-
| Wherry
| Ferry rowed by oarsmen, c.5 passengers
| 20
| 1
| Average
|}

= <br />

=Characters=
The player-characters on the Starkweather-Moore Expedition

{| class="wikitable"
! Player
! Character
! HP
! WP
! SAN
! BP
! Resources
|-
|[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?members/some-clever-name.35669/ Some Clever Name]
|[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?members/some-clever-name.35669/ Margaret Hollingshead]
|11
|14
|70
|56
|13: 6/6/1, [][][]
|-
|[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?members/archer.10289/ Archer]
|[https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php?title=Cthulhu_Eternal_Victorian_Age_Dan_Morgan&modqueued=1]
|10
|11
|55/54
|44
|6: 6/0/0, []
|-
|[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?members/roger.26034/ Roger]
|[https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Pstmjack%27s_Cthulhu_Eternal:_Beyond_the_Mountains_of_Madness/Martin_Cooper Doctor Reuben Bell]
|11
|13
|65
|52
|16: 6/6/4, [][][]
|-
|[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?members/brahnamin.70442/ brahnamin]
|[[Better_Light_a_Candle:_"Mama"_Nguyen |"Mama" Nguyen]]
|10
|17
|85
|68
|4: 4/0/0, []
|-
|[https://forum.rpg.net/index.php?members/regular-guy.168375/ Regular Guy]
|[https://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Cthulhu_Eternal_Jazz_Age_Sean_Ramsey Emilie Garilound]
|12
|11
|55/54
|44
|9: 6/3/0, [][]
|-
|}

=Important Information and Materials=


This is one of the best, broadest sources on the Victorian era:

http://victorian-era.org/

For those with Google Earth, this is Google Earth's interactive map of Victorian London:

https://www.victorianlondon.org/googleearth.htm

=Important People=

Below are a few of the key figures, as well as others who'll be added as they appear in the course of the campaign.

*Count Weldon, your mysterious benefactor, a suave and polished man of affairs in early middle age, with a slight suggestion of foreign ancestry.
*Puck, the mysterious little mudlark acquaintance of Mama Nguyen who may or may not be an actual fairy.
*Katie Moppet, the little preteen girl who may or may not be the King of the Rattown Sewers.
*Bill, Dan's brother - and fellow thief?

=Important Groups and Places=


*The ''Vegliantino'', the Paladin Society's barge and floating headquarters.
*The ''Illustrated Police News'', a weekly sensationalist tabloid newspaper, always ready to pounce on the wildest, most scandalous stories.
*The Bethlem Royal Hospital, otherwise known as Bedlam Asylum; a haven for the troubled soul - or a hell-on-earth of mental torture?
*The Forty Elephants, London's most notorious gang of all-female criminals.

=House Rules and Quirks=


'''Spending Willpower to Make Rolls Succeed'''

You can spend your Willpower Points on a 1-to-5 basis to improve most skill rolls (but not SAN rolls or damage rolls, or POW tests, or to change normally successful rolls into crits etc.): 1 WP = up to 5%. This represents making that extra effort of will to achieve a success. But in doing so, you're running down your Willpower Points, which can be dangerous. Also, you have to take the full 1-to-5 conversion - no fractions. If your roll has failed by 6%, you have to spend 2 WP for the full 10%.

Remember that you can also spend Willpower to project SAN loss onto Bonds, or to repress insanity. This is different to the above use - and a reminder how important it is to hang on to your WP. Fumbles can cost you WP; resisting interrogation definitely does. WP are needed to fuel rituals and objects, and are sometimes targeted by offensive rituals. They're also very important for survival in hostile environments.

Remember that you suffer an emotional breakdown when your WP hit 2 or below, and total collapse when you hit 0 WP. You regain 1d6 WP after a full, proper night's sleep. Exhaustion and sleeplessness cut into that.