Masks is considered by many to be the pinnacle of Cthulhu campaigns. As most people who have played CoC have fond memories of The Haunting, most players who have played at least one published campaign have had their investigators rue the day that they received that telegram in New York City.
Masks is gigantic, both geographically and in the scope of the evil involved. Of course, experienced players will be able to roll with the non-Euclidean punches better than novices, but what of the actual investigators?
Many Keepers start with a fresh batch of characters to run this, but is that wise? Yes, it's a meat grinder at points, but using established characters allows for a comfort level to use contacts, patrons, and the like, rather than pulling ideas out of thin air.
Plus, allowing, say, five sessions of experience will allow for necessary skill increases needed for competency/survival. Academics start working towards sub-competence in combat skills, streetwise characters improve on secondary support skills, and replacement characters from death/insanity might be geared towards better team cohesion than a drunken insurance salesman or a kung-fu hobo.
Presented for your consideration are the documented skill checks in the Masks hardcover. This does not include any combat skills, unless specified in bold in the text. It's Cthulhu folks, you have to assume some investigators need competence in hand to hand or small arms. It also can not determine skill checks needed on the fly for unpredictable Investigator actions.
Also included are the minimum and maximum SAN losses during that chapter, any SAN reward offered in the text, and any possible Cthulhu Mythos increase, regardless of study time required to earn it.
NEW YORK
Anthropology x2
Archaeology
Botany
Cthulhu Mythos x5
Credit Rating x5
Fast Talk x6
Grapple
Library Use x10
Listen
Natural History
Spot Hidden
Potential SAN loss. 3-44
Potential SAN gain. 0
Cthulhu Mythos 6
Pretty much everything you would assume from an opening chapter, except those FIVE Cthulhu Mythos checks to a novice party means no chance at certain info. Even at 5-10%, it could possibly open up some avenues, hence my opinion on using an experienced team.
LONDON
I was going to list each side trek, tangent, and wild goose chase separate, but I don't want to give potential players anymore hints than the suggested skills for the replacements. That's my limit with meta-gaming.
Archaeology x3
Art: Oratory
Biology x2
Chemistry
Credit Rating x2
Cthulhu Mythos x2
Dodge x6
Egyptology
Electrical Repair
Fast Talk. X4
Hide
Library Use
Listen
Mechanical Repair
Occult x 2
Operate Hvy Machinery
OL. Arabic x 3
OL. Latin x 4
OL. Medieval French x3
OL. Old English
Persuade. X4
Physics x2
Psychology x5
Spot Hidden x11
Track
Potential SAN loss. 3-63
Potential SAN gain. 5-40
Cthulhu Mythos. 0
Go to England and have your three biggest skills as Spot Hidden, persuade, Fast Talk, and Psychology, with a good smattering of languages no one takes. At least the players with Arabic get some love before descending into...
CAIRO
Without a guide (and sometimes with one) Arabic is required with every social skill roll. On top of that, many skills could be used just to navigate the streets. Skills marked "4+". Mean four specific mentions, with numerous other attempts depending on their actions.
Anthropology x3+
Archaeology x4+
Astronomy. x2
Bargain
Climb x2
Credit Rating
Cthulhu Mythos x2
Fast Talk x2
Geology x2
Hide
History. x1+
Jump
Law. x1+
Library Use x1+
Natural History
Occult x3
OL: Arabic x2+
OL: Aramaic x1+
OL: Classical Greek x1+
OL: Coptic x1+
OL: Demotic Egyptian x1+
OL: Dutch
OL: German
OL: Hebrew x1+
OL: Hieroglyphics x2
Persuade x3
Pharmacy
Psychology x5
Spot Hidden x10
Potential SAN loss. 17-444
Potential SAN gain. 3-35
Cthulhu Mythos. 2-8
Archaeology, psychology, and spot hidden, along with the possibility of a United Nations of the ancient required to translate. The fact that the max San loss could wipe out an entire party, much less one person, is reason the party needs to tread carefully in foreign lands. The truth may not be something they want to know.
KENYA
Accounting
Anthropology x3
Archaeology x2
Biology
Climb x2
Cthulhu Mythos x5
Fast Talk x2
Geology x2
History x2
Library Use x1+
Listen
Locksmith
Mechanical Repair
Natural History
Navigate
Occult x2
OL: Swahili x1+
OL: Kikugal x1+
Persuade x2
Psychology x3
Spot Hidden x7
Track
Potential SAN loss. 8-327
Potential SAN gain. 0
Cthulhu Mythos. 0
If Cairo takes care of the sloppy party, Kenya will finish off the lucky ones. When spot hidden and Cthulhu Mythos are your two top skills, you better be prepared for anything, especially big SAN loss.
AUSTRAILIA
Climb
Credit Rating x3
Cthulhu Mythos x6
Drive Auto x5
Electrical Repair x2
Fast Talk x4
Geology x6
Library Use
Listen x2
Locksmith x2
Mechanical Repair x4
Medicine
Natural History
Navigate x2
Occult x2
Operate Hvy Machinery x2
Persuade x3
Psychology x7
Spot Hidden x10
Track x2
Potential SAN loss. 12-116
Potential SAN gain. 3-25
Cthulhu Mythos. 0-6
By this point, everyone should have ninja/zen monk Spot Hidden scores, so 10 rolls should be successful. The Psychology and Cthulhu Myhos rolls should be expected, but Geology? Six checks? Cairo and Kenya require it, so let's hope someone got some skill increases during those sessions.
SHANGHAI
Anthropology x3
Archaeology
Astronomy
Club
Cthulhu Mythos
Electrical Repair x2
Geology
Hide
Jump x2
Listen
Locksmith x5
Mechanical Repair x4
Medicine x2
Natural History x3
OL: Chinese (Mandarin) x1+
Persuade
Physics x3
Psychoanalysis
Psychology x4
Spot Hidden x11
Potential SAN loss. 6-57
Potential SAN gain. 6-79
Cthulhu Mythos. 54
Shanghai, Oriental city... Whoops, different city in that song, but the feel might be the same (with less chess.) As written, the author assumes that this is the last location visited. With that assumption, the SAN gain includes successfully thwarting the diabolical plot. The SAN loss is less, but the chance of bodily harm around EVERY corner offsets that. In fact, SAN loss could be minimized far easier in this chapter than others.
There we have it. A cheat sheet for the entirety of Masks. It's maddening, it's deadly, and with the right mix of characters, it could be completed. If you can get through it with German brewmasters, dirigible pilots, and kung-fu hobos, I'd love to hear the stories, but I'm anticipating more details about the failures.
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