The flagship product of Wildfire LLC, Cthulhutech was released in 2008. It combines mecha and a near-future setting with the themes and dangers of the Cthulhu Mythos.
The System
Cthulhutech uses its own unique system, the d10-based Framewerk engine. The basic resolution mechanic is rolling a number of dice equal to the skill rating, plus a base equal to the applicable attribute. The twist is that instead of simply looking for the highest number, one can also use the total of matched sets or runs of consecutive numbers as their result. All PCs and some major NPCs also receive Drama Points they can spend to add dice to their rolls or subtract from their opponent's. Combat rules are reasonably straightforward, as are the magic rules. The book also includes Fear and Insanity rules, a staple of the genre.
Character creation is point-based and very straightforward. A pool of points is spent on attributes, and a second pool is used for skills, as well as assets and drawbacks, which let you access some of the more powerful character options. These options vary from Engel pilots or Tagers to sorcerers and psychics. A few different races are available, with slightly different stat modifiers and bonus abilities.
The Setting
In the early 21st century, humanity discovers an ancient manuscript on harnessing mystical energy through non-Euclidian mathematics. This is used to develop a new form of technology, arcanotechnology, that prompts the development of powerful new engines and devices used to colonize the solar system and develop impressive humanoid war machines. The rapid spread of humanity unsettles the Migou, aliens living at the edges of the solar system, and they decide to strike back to contain the threat. They raise an army of genetically engineered humanoids known as Nazzadi, and have them pose as a threat from beyond the system as they destory the colonies and attack Earth. The nations of Earth band together in a united government and make a stand against the invaders. Eventually, the Nazzadi discover the truth of their origins and make peace with the people of Earth, leaving the Migou no choice but to personally invade, conquering over a third of the world as they try to enslave everyone. At the same time, the malicious influence of various cults has spread throughout the world, resulting in a terrifying swarm of maddened humans and eldritch monstrosities rampaging across much of China while more subtle threats infiltrate boardrooms and barracks across the globe.
A good overview of the setting is given, with a timeline, look at the major players in the current conflicts, and a brief look at society and culture. There's also a secrets chapter for the GM and a pair of sample adventures to flesh out the core rules. The real meat of the setting comes from the supplements, which look at various parts of the setting in more detail, add new elements to the setting, and advance the game's timeline and metaplot forwards.
The Mecha
There are three types of mecha in the setting. They justify the use of mechs in-setting by saying one of the effects
of arcanotechnology is that an operator can work much better with a
design closer to their own body shape. The standard mecha, used by the Humans, Nazzadi, Migou, and Deep Ones, are basic war-machines-enhanced-with-arcanotechnology types, with each group having their own aesthetic and specialty units. Most of the units range from 20 to 40 feet tall, with a few standouts reaching 60. There are also powered armor units clocking in at 10 feet. Armament is a mixture of missles and rockets, lasers, slugthrowers, and various melee weapons. System-wise, mecha give bonuses to certain stats to represent computer power and have their own strength ratings and movement systems. There are no rules for customizing mecha, although some designs have multiple weapons loadouts to choose from.
The second type of mecha are the Engels. A clear homage to Neon Genesis Evangelion, an Engel is less a machine and more a cybernetically-enhanced vat-grown monster, armored up and controlled by means of a special chip implanted in the pilot. Their behavior is often disturbingly animalistic, and all of them have some form of organic weapon or feature that sets them apart from normal mechs. Engel have a few special rules, such as an ability to fight on their own if their pilot is knocked out, and the ability to regenerate damage taken. Other than that, however, they have stat blocks exactly like the other mecha.
The third type of mecha are the Tagers, although using the term mecha is pushing it a little. The Guyver pastiche, Tagers are the result of a human undergoing a ritual that symbiotically joins them with an otherworldly being. This lets them transform into that being, becoming nightmarish biological killing machines. There are several types of Tager available throughout the different books, as well as the option to evolve a form into something even more powerful and fearsome. Tager powers are mostly straight bonus overlaid on the normal character
sheet when transformed, along with some extra powers and attacks. Tagers also have the widest variety of customization available, as one of the books introduces a system for swapping out bonuses and weapons.
My Opinion
When I first heard about this game, I really liked the concept, enough to get one of the first printings. Mechs punching the crap out of horrible monsters? Why yes, I'll take two. I think there are a lot of good ideas in the books. I really like the Tager concept, the mecha designs looked neat, and there seemed to be a lot of story hooks available.
The problems present, however, outweigh the positives. The power curves for psychics and sorcerers are terribly unbalanced, and the setting makes it hard to slot in Tagers or mecha pilots with other character ideas and have everything work out well. The damage scale separating mecha from everything else causes some issues too, like how an upgraded version of the most powerful Tager in the books, which costs the player a lot of points in character creation and a lot of experience, can barely scratch a powered armor the exact same size as it, unless it uses it's very best attack.
The biggest problems, however, are with the setting. The authors have opted to use a lot of sex and rape for horror purposes. This can work if done well, but it can be easy to overuse it and I personally think they did. There are several references throughout the books to rape camps, sex slavery, rape machines, and other sex-horror situations and it can make the game unappealing to people. This problem is notable enough that almost every discussion I've seen about the game has the issue come up, and it's driven away a lot of potential fans.
In short, I think the downsides outweigh the upsides, and I wouldn't really recommend Cthulhutech to anyone. If you want it anyways, however, it's available for sale on DriveThruRPG.
Next up: Enter the saga of mankind!
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