The Save

You might not appreciate the real difference between a Save and any other non-equipment roll you make in a game of The Cthulhu Hack. They’re quite different.

(Actually, the current version of the rules references Tests rather a lot and these will be switched to Saves in the next revision for absolute clarity!)

Saves handle risk and danger. If your character faces the prospect of damage, the presence of an impending threat – outward or inward – then you make a Save.

Otherwise, you roll Flashlights or Smokes. If not a Save, you’re searching for information.

You walk into a darkened room. You can hardly see the hand in front of your face. The room has a trap door in the middle of the floor.

If the trap door serves as a trap in this room, the GM will ask the player to make a DEX Save for their character.

If the trap door serves as a hidden route into the basement hideout of a cultist, the GM will ask the player to make a Flashlight roll.

You see the difference?

You walk into the cells beneath the castle of Baron Von Tritz, an occult expert on the wrong side of sane. A jailor awaits sat at a small table playing solitaire.

If the jailor has wiggle room to not ring the bell pull hanging from the wall, which would bring guards charging, the GM will ask the player to make a CHA Save for their character. The right word or two might make all the difference.

On the other hand, the character might frequent the right circles to have met the jailor, down in the village – requiring a Smokes roll – or recognize the jailor’s tattoo – with a Flashlight roll. Either way, that information might be enough to make a difference.

Live with a Save; learn with Flashlights and Smokes.