Investigation is Key

[caramida]

If you've ever played in a mystery, horror, or Call of Cthulhu-style horror-mystery game, you may have encountered out-of-game frustration when something as simple as a single failed die roll has left you without a vital clue needed to keep the story rolling. Either players are forced to fumble around in the dark for ages, or the GM has to risk

Comments

[name_redacted]

Guilty as charged! Thanks for that link!

[name_redacted]

So, can you explain a couple of the things that he talks about, like spending on skill rolls (and skill uses)?

And, am I gathering correctly that he separates investigation-type skills from action skills, and that investigation skills automatically succeed (although you can spend on them to get additional clues, beyond the basics)?

You are correct, sir.

[caramida]

Your skill rating serves as a pool of competency which you can use to affect character outcomes. This works in two ways, with investigation skills, and with action skills

Re: You are correct, sir.

[name_redacted]

So, is the skill list fixed, or are the skills player-defined?

And, how do points refresh?

Re: You are correct, sir.

[caramida]

The skill list is fixed, as per this pdf character sheet. Skills refresh between investigations, I believe, or perhaps between scenes. I don't recall which exactly.

Your fighting skills do the same, which means you lose the fight when you can no longer expend points to hit or shoot the other guy. One's Health score is the rating that lowers as you take physical damage, and one's Stability score is the rating that goes down as you take mental damage (from seeing unspeakable horror, for example).