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  • ️Tue May 01 2012

CthulhuTech (Tabletop Game)

"Aeon War Syndrome isn't losing your mind. It's losing your friends. It's losing your family. It's losing whatever hope you might have had left. They say war is hell. I've seen hell. This is worse."

CthulhuTech is a tabletop roleplaying game that can be described as Neon Genesis Evangelion and the Cthulhu Mythos put into a blender and set to purée.

It all begins when a scientist discovers a Tome of Eldritch Lore (called ''The Mysteries Within") and uses the information within to create the Dimensional Engine (D-Engine), an infinite-energy Magitek device deriving power from another dimension. Though both the creator and her apprentice were driven insane by the design process (not helped by personal tragedy caused by horrible initial tests), the D-Engine proves to be a success and soon makes futuristic technologies like Humongous Mecha and Anti-Gravity possible.

This development does not sit well with the Migou, a local group of Starfish Aliens from Pluto that pride themselves on their complete and utter superiority to mankind - and remember the last time a species from Earth cracked the secrets of the D-Engine. They declare war on Earth, first via the Nazzadi, a cloned puppet race of Proud Warrior Race Guys created from the human genome. After the Nazzadi discover their true origins and defect to the side of humanity, the Migou take to the stage of war personally with their own semi-biological mecha and a perfect form of Brainwashing called assimilation. This conflict is known as the Second Arcanotech War, and devastates the Earth.

It is now the era of the Aeon War. Humanity has survived the Second Arcanotech War thanks to the totalitarian (but otherwise okay) New Earth Government, but greater threats are stirring under the surface. Various Eldritch Abomination cults are enjoying a resurgence thanks to the development of Functional Magic and are attempting to revive The Old Ones from their slumber. An army of Deep Ones lurk below the waves of the ocean, planning to swarm the land and enslave/transform its people. An avatar of Hastur (He Who Must Not Be Named) has been summoned into the world, organising its crazed devotees into the trigger-happy "Rapine Storm" that threatens to sweep across the world like a plague. And the Migou, stubbornly proud and terrified of the idea that even one of the Old Ones could be awoken, have declared war on everyone.

However, all is not lost. Realising that they were ill-equipped to fight against all of these threats at once, the New Earth Government have been busy creating new weapons to defend the last bastion of humanity: the Engels, a line of Evangelion-esque bio-mechanical super-mecha with apocalyptic firepower and a mind of their own. Meanwhile, there are factions that fight their own shadow wars against the darkness, such as the Eldritch Society and their Tagers, a group of elite agents that have literally fused their bodies with an alien symbiont to gain otherworldly power.

And so it begins, in a brave new world that teeters on the brink of complete collapse. You find yourself on the front lines with your futuristic weaponry or otherworldly powers as the only barriers between you and the madness that lies beyond reality. Good luck.

The following books are part of the series' first edition.

  • CthulhuTech (Mongoose) — The core rulebook
  • Vade Mecum (Mongoose) — Companion which details para-psychics, zoners, additional spells and mecha for various factions
  • Dark Passions (Mongoose - black and white; Catalyst - color version) — A sourcebook for cults
  • Damnation View (Catalyst) — A metaplot sourcebook for 2086
  • Mortal Remains (Catalyst) — Details culture, society of the New Earth Government, and their enemies, the Migou
  • Ancient Enemies (Sandstorm) — Details the struggle between the Tagers of the Eldritch Society and the Chrysalis Corporation
  • Unveiled Threats (Sandstorm) — Details the armaments, devices and technology of the Strange Aeon
  • Burning Horizon (Sandstorm) — 2087 Metaplot sourcebook, Details the history and culture of the Independent Solar Colonies, along with space-craft.

This Tabletop RPG provides examples of:

  • Absolute Xenophobe: The Migou are completely and utterly locked into their mindset of "kill all Nazzadi, enslave or kill every human on the planet, and keep the Old Ones in their can." No Migou will ever consider any kind of negotiation or working with humanity that doesn't involve turning humans into blanks or killing every Nazzadi on the planet.
  • Absurdly Sharp Blade: The Hyperedge blades and pincers used by power armor and mecha, along with advanced Composite blades and the natural weapons of many a Tager, Dhoanoid or summoned Kaiju.
  • Advanced Ancient Humans: 2nd Edition reveals that the present day human civilization is in-fact the 4th iteration of the species, having been thought extinct in the previous three instances. These former humans may have left behind the advanced technologies that helped the ISC and the NEG turn the Hopeless War against the Migou into a manageable one.
  • Albinos Are Freaks: Played straight with White Xenomixes in first edition, averted with 8th Legion Nazzadi (Moonstone) and Amlati (Platinum) in second, who are culturally among the most energetic and extroverted of the Legions.
  • Always a Bigger Fish: While 2nd Edition puts a lot more emphasis on power fantasy and "occult superheroes", there are locations and entities that still pose a challenge to the player characters, or should not/cannot be fought whatsoever. Justified, in that the core experience is about Tagers, who are human-scale entities - fistfighting a monster meant to fight a Humongous Mecha is already logistically challenging at best, hence why spoilers in the Kickstarter have noted the Ravenous Storm (Hastur's forces, primarily made up of Kaiju and rogue mech pilots) are not meant to be encountered directly.
  • Always Chaotic Evil:
    • While there's plenty of inherently hostile Mythos aliens, special notes should be paid to Dhohanoids, who despite being Transhuman Aliens, are invariably selfish and malign, along with not recognizing anything other than harm to a Dhohanoid as morally wrong.
    • The Rapine Storm's humanoid members in 1st ed were this, so much so they were never made playable when the Migou and Chrysalis agents were.
  • Arcology:
    • Although only mentioned in passing in the game rules, "arcos" are very integral to the storyline of the game. With the danger of cults and Mi-Gou attacks, you do not want to live outside a major city. So most have been converted into hardened, self-contained Mega City structures.
    • Second Edition lessens this, with more conventional cities built around Arcologies for those who think fresh air and sunlight are worth the increased risk of eldritch incursion. However, these still depend on nearby Arcologies and (presumably) private bunkers to shelter in safety when an incursion does happen.
  • Amazing Technicolor Population: The Nazzadi and Amlati in 2nd Edition, thanks to there now being multiple legions that all have different roles and unusual skin, hair and eye colors. Justified as these unusual colors served as factory barcodes to the Migou, who have an unorthodox way of perceiving the world through sensing of chemicals.
  • Arm Cannon: Quite a few mechs and power armors in the artwork are shown with weapons either affixed to their wrist or in place of an arm.
  • Armored Coffins: Played straight with Engels due to the unique technology involved and it going berserk should the pilot wind up incapacitated. Subverted however with more conventional mecha and power armor, which usually offer ejector features or even life support pods for pilots. Depending on where one lands or ends up floating however, the escape pods can potentially *also* double as coffins.
  • Armor Is Useless: Zig-zagged in both editions. In 1st edition the swingyness of the Framewerk system could have results ranging in full body military armor near-completely soaking a torrent of gunfire to practically nothing at all. In 2nd edition, where PC's and major NPC's have about triple the HP of minor NPC's (which is typically 4), armor is useful for them, but for regular Mooks it is far less.
  • Artistic License – Physics: There is a line from "Burning Horizons" about how it's ''easier'' to hide things in space because you can vent all the heat "into space", which is actually the exact opposite of how it works.
  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: Possible for powerful sorcerers, but as can be expected from the Cthulhu Mythos, no easy ride, nor necessarily desirable.
  • Badass Normal: Honestly, any character who isn't a sorcerer, para-psychic, Engel pilot, or Tager is going to either be this or dead.
    • Eldritch Society Operators will sometimes go into the field with Tager packs, despite not having the combat skills, damage resistance, and Healing Factor that the latter's symbiotes confer.
    • Pilots of normal mecha can be seen as this when fighting alongside the mighty biomechanical Engels.
    • Will be the basis of an entire Splat in 2nd edition dubbed the "Mighty Mortal".
  • Benevolent Abomination:
    • Downplayed with Ta'ge in their true forms; they're more alien and aloof than anything else, but their morality is not fundamentally hostile no matter the species, and they regard the Eldritch Society sending potential Tagers to them to bond as an excellent way to explore and experience the multiverse, with at worst inflicting noticeable but benign personality changes on their hosts after the Mental Fusion. They are also profoundly powerful and godlike xenos at weakest, with the Widows being a prey species in their Death World despite having a billions-strong civilization and incredible genius, Echoes being such titans of their home reality they literally don't have a panic response due to lacking any notable threats, and Nightmares are recyclers of universes.
    • The "Strangers" are capable of the same moral range as their human predecessors.
  • Big Damn Heroes: The Independent Solar Colonies ambushing Yuggoth and forcing the Migou to recall the second Hive Ship to protect their homeworld, and sneaking extremely useful alien tech to the New Earth Government, singlehandedly subverting the Hopeless War into a winnable one.
  • Black-and-Grey Morality: Would you prefer the (properly) paranoid Police State of the NEG? The criminal Eldritch Society? The genocidal Migou? Or would you like to go all out and join the Eldritch Abomination cults?
  • Blade Below the Shoulder: A common melee weapon mount point for NEG/NSC mecha and their Hyperedge blades.
  • Blessed with Suck:
    • Congrats, you've survived a brush with the Zone, and now have incredible Psychic Powers. Now all you have to deal with is constant Burn, being slightly insane (ranking up to moderately and severely after a few days), and being a Weirdness Magnet. Oh, and did we mention that you're unable to control your powers and pretty much every group wants to kill or experiment on you? You know, screw it, being a Zoner is a perfectly good reason for saying I Just Want to Be Normal.
    • In 2nd Edition, this is all Psions, given great power but requiring extensive discipline and training to not cause mass slaughter and destruction with but an idle whim.
  • Blood Magic: Freshly drawn blood is a common ingredient in 1st edition rituals, while the Migou are said to practice blood ritual exclusively as it's safer than intoning the names of higher beings.
  • Blue-and-Orange Morality: The Ta'ge, in their true forms, are extremely powerful aliens that are of the Non-Malicious Monster variety at their most understandable. Emphasized in 2E; Nightmares, for instance, are effectively recyclers of universes...who can only naturally manifest in a reality long after it undergoes heat death or another catastrophe that renders it broken and lifeless, and devour it to avoid causing issues in other universes. Likewise, Widows are ruthless arachnid hunters in their homeworld, but they're actually fairly low on the food chain and extremely friendly to beings they regard as part of their "hive." Tagers often develop elements of their symbionts' personalities even in human form, especially in 2E.
  • Body Horror: The Dhohanoids and their Dark Is Not Evil kin, the Tagers, are both prone to disgusting and painful-looking transformations into strange, alien beasts. One of the Psion "Lanes" in 2e will also be focused around this.
  • Body Snatcher: Maybe. Dhoanoids, in contrast with the more symbiotic Tagers, have their minds and souls completely overwritten by their eldritch nature; while Tagers recognize the barrier between themselves and the Ta'ge and have personalities recognizable as slightly more alien and violent versions of their pre-symbiosis selves, Dhohanoids are almost completely transformed into the general personality traits for their breed, with Blue-and-Orange Morality at best. There's a theory among some Eldritch Society members that Dhohanoids are not actually the people they used to be, but creations of the Old Ones who absorb enough from the humans they replace they aren't sure of the difference.
  • Boldly Coming: The cause of the Human-Nazzadi Amlati coming into being.
  • Bond Creatures: Engels, who share their thoughts and preferences with their pilot and Tager Symbiots, who apart from the titular symbiotic bond with their host, influence the host's behavior.
  • Brain/Computer Interface: 2nd edition reveals all D-engine powered vehicles have a wireless, implantless version of this, the driver/pilot feeling the vehicle as an being extension of, if not outright their own body. This effect is only amplified if the vehicle shares design elements with humanoid anatomy, leading to the development of mecha. A more conventional example is required to bond with and pilot Engels. This also went for remote-controlling Nephillim in 1st edition.
  • Brain in a Jar: Harvested human brains, kept alive indefinitely in metal jars, form the core of Migou computer systems.
  • Brainwashed: The Migou have a process known as "Assimilation" which is a perfect brainwashing system. It creates fanatically loyal subjects, is irreversible, and can only be detected with advanced brain scans.
  • Bread and Circuses: The NEG's/NSC's primary way of keeping the populations of Arcologies and the outside cities sedate is a constant feed of entertainment, easy access to recreational drugs and sex, along with media, including the news cycle, emphasizing victory and positivity. Happy people don't join cults, as a rule.
  • Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: The Chrysalis Corporation uses one of these as their insignia. Incidentally, they also specialize in turning people into hybrid monsters. Symbolism anyone?
  • Bug War:
    • The Aeon War, with both the Migou and the Rapine Storm's various monsters attacking humanity, certainly comes under this category.
    • The Migou themselves see the Aeon War as this, since for them humans are bugs to squash.
  • By-the-Book Cop: The FSB is presented as this, in contrast to the OIS, who openly operate as State Sec.
  • Captain Ersatz: Several prominent ones. It's worth mentioning that the core rulebook acknowledges and lists the various anime influences on the game.
    • The Engels are alive, they go berserk when the wrong person gets in them or when the right person is knocked out, they're the only proper defense Earth has against unstoppable monsters, and their pilots tend to be a little bit nuts. Sound familiar to anyone else?
    • Nazzadi= Zentradi
    • Tagers and Dhohanoids= Guyvers and Zoanoids.
    • The infamous "Xan-Tuum Violator" is in fact heavily based off a similair device from the Hentai "Urotsukidoji".
  • Cast from Hit Points: If a psychic runs out of MP, he can choose to do this. Just don't go near him for a few hours afterwards.
  • Cast of Snowflakes: Encouraged by 2E, with the Massive Race Selection that the Eldritch Society is extremely open to (even Waveborn, who are Deep One hybrids, and Tcho-Tcho, a Human Subspecies created by Hastur as servants), and how Tagers mutate to be unique from their symbiote's general type as they gain experience. Word of God says all the other Splats will be about as customizable and crossplay between them far more viable than in 1st edition.
  • Child by Rape: The majority of Deep One-human hybrids in 1E are produced by industrial rape to create soldiers in the next generation. Averted in 2E due to not needing to and even looking down upon conventional mortal reproduction; the Deep Ones don't need to have have kids personally, but can convert by ritual, though the Changeling Gene helps and might express without sorcery, creating Waveborn.
  • CIA Evil, FBI Good: The OIS gets a far worse rap than the FSB in the books; while it's portrayed on the whole as Necessarily Evil, the moment a criminal goes into OIS hands, all concepts of human rights go out the window. The FSB, by contrast, have an organizational culture of integrity, their largest division is Internal Affairs to keep the cults out, and generally play their cases by the book.
  • Combat Tentacles: Engels, some Kaiju ,some Tager symbiotes and Dagonite mecha/power armor make great use of these to either whip, restrain, crush and/or capture smaller or equally-sized targets.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: The Chrysalis Corporation takes it to a whole new level, as their Director is actually Nyarlathotep. Don't think anyone else is gonna be topping that one any time soon. However, in the interests of maintaining a trust-worthy public cover long enough to do some damage, they employ and fund a lot of nobler ventures, including hospitals.
  • Cozy Catastrophe: The great downsizing of the humanoid population has lead to prosperity for the survivors in the arcologies and surrounding cities, as resources that were meant to feed and support about ten billion now only have to support around two billion, including homelessness by and large not being a thing due to the NSC providing housing and Basic Universal Income to all it's (registered) citizens.
  • Church of Happyology: The Church of All, benign on the surface, recruitment front and infiltration point into Arcologies for the Esoteric Order of Dagon beneath it.
  • Crapsack World: The phrase "Neon Genesis Evangelion meets H. P. Lovecraft" should tell you how bleak it is. Thankfully for the NEG, there actually is some hope for humanity. (Or at least for whatever humanity evolves into.) Softened into A World Half Full by the time of Second Edition, with the player characters fighting to keep it at this level.
  • Dark Is Not Evil:
  • Death World:
    • The Solar Colonists technically come from these as habitats around the solar system were constructed and settled without terraformation.
    • Of the many plains of existance one will be able to visit in 2nd Edition the most deadly of them all are the Dreamlands, with only Ulthar, the city of intelligent cats providing shelter.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Finding out there's a second Hive Ship headed towards Earth in 1E The section of the adventure that this happens in is even called "That's It, We're Totally Effed." GMs are advised to have a supporting NPC or two blow their brains out right there. It's a tad bleak. In 2E, gloriously subverted by the Independent Solar Colonies, the Kuiper Belt colonists who successfully hid from the Migou and found alien tech, who launched surprise attack on Pluto and sent the Migou into a confused panic, forcing the second Hive Ship to withdraw to guard their homeworld.
  • Empathic Weapon:
    • The Engels, which bond and share thoughts and preferences about their hunting grounds and methods with pilots.
    • Tager Symbiotes infuse a little of their thought process into their hosts and vice versa.
  • Endangering News Broadcast: The recording of the second Migou hive-ship's existance had been suppressed when it was first discovered to avoid mass panic. This turned out to be a good move on the NEG's part as shortly thereafter the Independent Solar Colonists would make themselves known and strike a decisive blow against the second ship.
  • Everybody Has Lots of Sex: As part of the same process that legalized many illegal things (like drugs) in order to keep the general population sane, sexual morality became a lot looser: the average age when someones loses their virginity (in the notoriously sex- and shock-horror focused 1E) is 12; prostitution is legal and resembles modern-day Dutch practices; the porn industry rivals modern Hollywood; major porn stars are minor mainstream celebrities; and the sex in mainstream media is borderline softcore. Of course, Death Shadows and various other cults are trying to take this into Squick territory. There are indications that the cults set it up this way, and want to make it worse. Also see Free-Love Future below. Doing this for reproduction purposes is given heavy financial incentive in second edition.
  • Everyone Is Armed: Due to the limited reach and availibillity of both magical wards and NSC security/law enforcement, all NSC citizens in 2nd Edition are encouraged to arm themselves and their families against eldritch incursions, which due to portals and cultists potentially being anyone, can often bypass the heavy professional and/or automated security of the arcologies and the neighboring cities.
  • Evil Versus Evil: One of the few reliefs to the NSC in 2E is that the Esoteric Order of Dagon and the Ravenous Storm do not get along. There's a huge No Man's Land in the Middle East caused by their own war, which has stopped the Storm from conquering Africa.
  • Evolution Power-Up: The Tagers can go through metamorphosis, gaining an even more powerful form, possibly as an analogue to the Guyver Gigantic. Phantoms evolve into Wraiths, which can totally control their own inertia, rendering themselves unmovable and unstoppable. Whispers evolve into Dreams, who can see thoughts, dreams and emotions. Shadows evolve into Phantasms, who can perfectly mimic any appearance or sound. Echoes evolve into Impulses, gaining the ability to teleport. Mirages evolve into Memories, who are instantly forgotten about the moment they can no longer be seen. Spectres evolve into Revenants, gaining such a potent Healing Factor they can no longer feel pain and can revive from any wound. Widows evolve into Horrors, who are immune to fear and can inspire tear and madness with a look. Nightmares evolve into Torments, who can cause unbearable agony with just a touch. Vampires evolve into Bloodgods, who can reshape flesh, blood and bone at will. Finally, Efreeti evolve into Infernos, which are master pyrokinetics.
  • Extreme Omnivore: Ghouls and High Ghouls can not only (and exclusively) ingest and digest food-poisoning/vomit-inducing foods for humans, but have an entire underground food culture dedicated to fermenting and tasting decrepit foods considered unthinkable to other Heritages.
  • Fake Memories: The Migou made the Nazzadi think that they were millennia-old galactic conquerors instead of a newly-made clone race. The Nazzadi finding out that these memories were fake led to their Heel–Face Turn.
  • Falling into the Cockpit: Defied. Training to be capable of operating mecha, or even basic Arcology machinery requires at least a year or two of added education. Word of God also stated one of the lead creators explicitly despises untrained teenagers being given the reigns to a highly expensive and destructive war machine.
  • Free-Love Future: Casual sex is seen as perfectly normal in the 2080's, although most people use it as a way to eventually meet someone with which they want to have a monogamous relationship - and also, y'know, because sex feels good. Second Edition points out the NSC encourages romance outright, as humanity is recovering from apocalypse-induced depopulation and they want young couples to "assist in stabilization of humanity's numbers". To their credit they try to make the burdens of childrearing as financially and socially-venerated as possible.
  • From Bad to Worse:
    • In the first story book, The Rapine Storm overruns China completely, the Deep Ones find something, and the summoning of an Outer God is barely averted. There are five books remaining. Also, the big reveal at the end of the book? There's another Migou Hive Ship on the way to Earth. The presence of ONE has driven mankind nearly to extinction. Yeah. It's about to get much, much worse.
    • The book Mortal Remains has some interesting information, but the opportunity it opens up is so minute as to be nonexistent...in 1E; the two Hive Ships hold the ENTIRETY of the Migou in our solar system. Pluto, their mining colony, is going to have a skeleton crew once the second ship launches. Some may question the rationality of leaving Pluto defenseless, but according to Migou intel, there are no threats to it since nobody is capable of getting there (and the Earth is locked down by the first Hive Ship). The sources of said intel in 2E, have presumably been melted down into nutrient slurry; as it turns out, they missed that there were surviving colonists in the Kuiper Belt, along with caches of Precursor technology they were reverse-engineering, launching a devastating attack on Pluto and forcing the second Hive Ship to be parked in orbit to defend against the Independent Solar League, which has managed to sneak through the surprised and unprepared Migou orbital defenses and given significant caches of their tech to Earth, making the fight significantly more fair.
  • Functional Magic:
    • Parapsychics/Psions have an Innate Gift, while sorcerers use a mixture of Rule Magic and Force Magic which is taught as a science.
    • Archanotechnology also falls under Device Magic, as do arcane objects created through the Rule Magic's rituals, examples range from the iconic mecha and D-Engine power source to levitating drone-like orbs for self-defense and various enchanted blades.
  • Gas Mask Mooks: NEG/NSC, Migou and Dagonite military combat armor all come with a sealing breather mask. Justified as all three are not above chemical warfare against each other through various means. One can also purchase a breather mask to go with concealed armor.
  • Gem Tissue: Nazzadi and Amlati in 2nd Edition not only have their more varied skin colors compared to precious minerals but actually have said minerals as part of a protective coating in their skin, which gives them a smooth sheen.
  • Gender Bender: Beckon the Unexpressed, a spell that changes the target's sex over a period of three days. Often used as a college prank. Now with more permanent, medical or clandestine applications in 2nd edition!
  • Genre Mashup:
    • Between a Cosmic Horror Story with its utter insignificance of humanity in the face of unimaginable vastness and giant robots and adults who save the future with significant human endeavor.
    • Second Edition combines a positive deconstruction of cosmic horror with fighting (often gruesomely and at personal cost, in both the shadows of cities and open battle fields) to keep it from becoming a straight example.
  • Gone Horribly Wrong: What happens when Migou try to create their own version of the Engels - they discovered the hard way that an Empathic Weapon that cannot communicate with its supposed pilots just sees them as potential enemies and parasites. Needless to say, no Migou scientist dares to work on that project again.
  • Good Thing You Can Heal: Healing Magic and Magitek in the NSC is so advanced that soldier's can be recovered and rapidly restored to duty from what would otherwise be crippling/fatal injuries. Deconstructed in that this opens up a whole new can of war-based trauma.
  • Green-Skinned Space Babe:
    • Nazzadi women are often treated as such by the artists on this project. Seriously, go through the books and try to find one Nazzadi female who isn't Stripperiffic. The fact that they have no nudity taboo doesn't help matters. Justified in that the Nazzadi are an artificially created race of modified humans.
    • Doubled down in Second Edition, with multiple Nazzadi legions resulting in them and their Amlati offspring coming in all sorts of odd colors.
  • Grim Up North: The Migou mostly inhabit the polar regions.
  • Gun Kata: A few "Cascade" (martial arts combo) options in 1st edition boiled down to this, with options for performing this with either handguns, rifles or SMG's.
  • Half-Human Hybrid: Five/Six (if you count Outsider Taint) different flavors!
    • Nazzadi/Human hybrids, aka Amlati, are justified. Since they are essentially the same race, it is natural that they would be able to interbreed. That Amlati display some weird, unique traits is a bit more notable, though.
    • The Deep One Hybrids are... pretty much the same as they are in Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," except that they can't pass down their Deep One genes to an ordinary mortal... at least until they become fully Deep Ones. With the very large asterisk that some never do, they grow fins and gills but stall there and never succumb to Dagon's More than Mind Control, becoming Waveborn.
    • The Outsider Taint drawback, which doubles your Orgone at the cost of the NEG's trust, the ability to become a Tager or pilot an Engel, and a physical deformity. Not as punishing in 2nd edition (provided you are either a registered Caster or you simply have odd features for no mechanical benefit.)
    • Viperborn, quick-grown alchemical clones with Valusian genes and traits.
    • Ravenkind, emissaries of the mysterious Ravens of Carcosa who look human, but can communicate with birds and have sharp claws instead of nails.
    • Catkin, who are descended partly from the Cats of Ulthar, and look it.
    • Averted with Tcho-Tcho; while they are very short and have strange, self-destructive powers to draw monsters, they're biologically just a naturally short, and often malnourished, human ethnic group. Their supernatural traits are effectively an occult slave brand by Hastur and playable ones are hunted by him for being traitors to the Old Ones.
  • Heel–Face Turn: When a group of Dhohanoid agents of the Chrysalis Corporation studied Ta’ge Fragments, they began to think that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to be bringing Great Old Ones into this world again. So they runaway, taking the tome with them, and become founders of the Eldritch Society.
    • Most Nazzadi, once they learned about their true origin, were not pleased with the Migou and settled down on an artificial island near Cuba.
    • The NEG after rebranding itself into the NSC in second edition, seems to be far more benign on the surface, combining it's prior surveillance state elements with excellent social programs and economic prosperity for all social strata, along with instituting a policy that human lives are the most valuable resource, ranking murder of even a single individual among the most heavily punished crimes.
  • Healing Factor:
    • Tagers have a rapid organic regeneration that also applies to their mortal form, letting them get back into the fight far quicker than Mortal agents.
    • Engels have a combination of damage control systems and rapid organic regeneration that sees them be thrown into far more combat-heavy scenarios than regular mecha.
    • Mecha and power armor often have Damage Control Systems that act as more limited machine regeneration in terms of gameplay.
  • Healing Hands: The Masters of Arcane Medicine in 2nd edition are Sorceror specialists in mending broken bodies, however this abillity can also be used for some impressive acts of malpractice.
  • Hollywood Silencer: Comes standard with every non-magnetic, non-vehicular NEG/NSC firearm. Justified as the default propellant has become electricity, rather than black powder, and most of these firearms are caseless.
  • Hope Spot:
    • Burning Horizon:
      • Good news: 1. New Arcanowave technology lets the NEG make a devastating strike on the Hive Ship in orbit. 2. The second Hive Ship is forced to turn back when remnants of the NEG space forces (left behind when the second arcanotech war began) strike at Pluto using new technology of their own. 3. The NEG and Remnants join together and form the Coalition, which causes a massive moral boost in universe.
      • Bad News: 1. In response to their setbacks, the Migou created a nasty disease that resembles the unholy fusion of Ebola and the common cold which cripples the NEG (along with the Eldritch Society and Chrysallis Corporation). 2. Chrysalis Corporation has made inroads into corrupting the OIS, which is supposed to stop things like them. 3. The Rapine Storm has made inroads into Australia and Thailand after overruning China in Damnation View. 4. The Cult of Dagon have managed to adopt the process of making Dhoanoids for their own uses.
    • The core book notes that The Great Race of Yith issued warnings to humanity, claiming that the future is not entirely set yet. It's vague, but at least that means that the Aeon War isn't a hopeless one.
    • Subverted in Second Edition: The colonies outside of Earth's atmosphere have hints of being there...because they are, the rebellion of the Nazzadi caught the Migou so off-guard they lost track of said colonists. And then the colonists sucker-punched them and probably singlehandedly saved Earth.
  • Hopeless War: 1E's metaplot was notorious for ignoring the Lovecraft Lite element of the mecha part of the setting and forcing players to suck at saving people, to a ridiculous degree. 2E subverts this thanks to the ISC's help, making the war against the Migou tough but winnable.
  • Human Aliens: Very, very subverted — if a person is even remotely humanoid, that's because they have humans as a genetic predecessor or basis. In fact, Migou are trying to conquer Earth because they're sick of how often it spits out humanoids!
  • Humanoid Abomination: There's a lot of seemingly human monsters, or Transhuman Aliens and Human Subspecies that still look human. Tagers and the Strangers in 2nd Edition are examples of playable takes on the concept.
  • Humans Are Survivors: What 2nd Edition focuses on to distinguish humans from other playable species, along with evolutionary history as pursuit predators and the fact that Human civilization at the current timeline point is actually the 4th iteration of it, having been thought exterminated three times prior.
  • Humongous Mecha: In five basic varieties, as well size differences between 10 foot tall Powered Armor to 55 foot tall Behemoths.
    • First, there's the Real Robot NEG mecha, classified as the Sword line, all of which are Chicken Walker style gun platforms and are generally considered baseline models, but aren't to be underestimated when they coordinate.
    • Second, we have the Engels, Super Robots of the Evangelion style, being partially organic based. They require advanced, specialized training to pilot correctly, but are far stronger than individual Swords.
    • Third, we have the Nazzadi mecha. While they're also Real Robots like the Swords, they are considerably faster and pack far more heat. This is offset by their being far more difficult to manufacture and field, along with often being frailer compared to the NEG models.
    • Fourth, we have the Migou biomecha, which are referred to as "Bugs" by NEG troopers, and with good reason. They all resemble Earth insects, such as mantises, fleas, cockroaches and dragonflies. On the power scale, they sit slightly higher than Swords in raw power, but only the most powerful Bugs can compete with Engels.
    • Fifth, and finally, there is Deep One Powered Armor. Pretty much what would happen if you gave a monster Spartan battle gear. Generally don't get much bigger than 15 feet or so, but they don't need the extra size. There's also Deep One-shaped mechs for the human members of the Esoteric Order, though they're not particularly good outside the water. They still have two models of humongous mecha, Hydra (23 feet) and Leviathan (40 feet), which were used to handle anything their powered armors can't.
  • Hunter of Monsters: The Eldritch Society (underground fighters against cult and eltrich intrusion), the Office of Internal Security (the governments' own fighters, jailors and researchers of cults and the eldritch) and the NEG/NSC military (engaging the eldritch in open combat) all count.
  • Inherent in the System: The NEG are a bread-and-circuses police state who suppress humanity's delvings into the occult, but rebelling and overthrowing them? That's just going to damn humanity to the Cults.
  • Innocent Fanservice Girl: The Nazzadi have no nudity taboo. They don't run around naked in public or anything, but they think nothing of stripping down if the situation might possibly call for it. Justified in Second Edition as their "Made For War" species trait lets them be comfortable in temperature extremes that would be agonizing for humans, hot or cold.
  • Internal Affairs: Sectarian Crimes at the FSB fills this role for the entire NEG, though they aren't there to irritate Cowboy Cops, they're there to clean out Cult infiltration in the NEG, and they have quite a few Cowboy Cops on their own payroll.
  • Jerkass: The Migou aren't utter evil like other antagonists. However, they think of humans no higher than labor animals and experiment subjects. They'll also kill every Nazzadi, even the loyalists, simply because they remind the Migou of their dismal failure.
  • Jump Physics: CthulhuTech is animesque, so characters are allowed to pull wicked jumps.
  • Just Before the End: Sure, it may not seem like it in NEG-controlled territory, but the government has become quite adept at hiding just how utterly screwed humanity is in the short term. It's a good ending if it turns out they're a long term.
  • Kaiju: Summoned and used to great psychological effect by both the Rapine/Ravening Storm and the Esoteric Order Of Dagon; in the Storm's case, they're more varied, from Lindorms to Grave Things, and are the primary mecha-sized forces that they have, while the EOD uses Sea Monsters like White Deaths and Sea Serpents as backup for their amphibious mecha.
  • Katana Superiority: Katanas in 1st Edition, especially when made of advanced composites, had the highest damage potential of any human-made yet man-portable blade. One short story in 1st also has a drill sergeant slaying an Eldritch Abomination by himself, with katana in hand, single-handedly in front of a group of recruits in a display worthy of Starship Troopers
  • Kill It with Fire: In true human tradition, flamethrowers both man-portable and vehicle-sized are in military use against eldritch horrors. Also higher-end Pyrokinetics in First Edition and the Efreet Tager symbiote in both editions, along with the Fireant mech used by the Migou.
  • Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: Every faction has some variant of conventionally propelled projectile, what distinguishes them from other sci-fi being that their electronically propelled and often caseless, making them silenced by default.
  • Knight Templar:
    • The Office Of Internal Security has a lot of these on staff; it's a job that lends itself too easily to blind hate and fanaticism of everything vaguely cult-related.
    • The Blood Brigade is a trap for these people, taking the form of a hate group of pure Humans versus Nazzadi and ''especially'' Amlati, unable to accept that the Nazzadi were Unwitting Pawns in the First Arcanotech War and collectively sided with humanity upon realizing the truth. Beyond the vicious sectarian violence, however, it's actually a front for the Ravenous Storm; in time, the most vicious members are influenced by Hastur to think everyone is guilty of something, and eventually be recruited by the Storm to punish most of humanity and eliminate the impure.
  • Lighter and Softer:
    • Well relatively in comparison to most other Cosmic Horror Story works. In this setting humanity has a Hope Spot and at the very least we'll go down swinging and taking a few things with us so others won't have to deal with them.
    • Second Edition is lighter than First, with the arcologies being outright pleasant at the cost of constant surveillance, and it being explicit that the invasion went wrong for the Outer Gods as well; Hastur was not summoned correctly and is mostly sealed in Leng, while many of his Tcho-Tcho worshipers have become disillusioned with him and his nightmarish cult, defecting to the rest of humanity. More importantly, Go Mad from the Revelation is not actually a thing that happens; rather, magic risks uncontrolled ascension, which often resembles becoming aloof and thinking oddly (and not a good idea if you don't understand magic well enough to deal with the things at higher dimensions).
  • Lizard Folk: The Valusians in 2E are the descendants of humanoid dinosaurs that became Snake People, and their Viperborn servants are quickly grown hybrids with reptilian traits from Valusian donors who can easily reshape themselves. Played with, in that they are also allies of the Eldritch Society; Viperborn are a playable species.
  • Lovecraft Lite: Second Edition, putting a greater emphasis on power fantasy and occult superheroics, with madness from Mythos exposure being an optional, roleplay-only effect and a lot of weaker Splats from first edition (Sorcerers, under-developed Psychics and Nephilim Controllers) receiving sizable buffs and retcons to make them more useful.
  • Lovecraftian Superpower: Dhoanoids and Tagers have this as their schtick. The Dhoanoids are closer to the strict definition of the term, due to the fact that they're basically Eldritch Abominations wearing human skin-suits, instead of symbotically merged with humans like Tagers are.
    • According to Word of God, one of the Psion "Lanes" in 2e will also be focused around this.
  • Luck Manipulation Mechanic: Drama Points. Spending them adds to your dice pool or subtracts from your opponent's dice pool.
    • "Shots" in the second edition, used to automatically succeed at complex tasks in the "Avant-Garde" play-mode or to guarantee success where dice potentially wouldn't in the Mixed play-mode.
  • Mad Scientist: Many arcanowave researchers often end up with a few eccentricities if they're disciplined and lucky, considering that its science concerns itself with Things Man Was Not Meant to Know.
  • Magic or Psychic?: Sorcery is taught as a science in universities, while Parapsychics are some sort of mutation or other special ability. Both are subject to a Mutant Draft Board.
  • Magic Misfire: Can happen to Sorcerors who fumble a ritual, effects ranging from harmless yet anomalous to dangerous and/or fatal, such as summoning an uncontrolled Eldritch Abomination within the ritual space. A magical mishap table is also a confirmed return in 2nd Edition.
  • Magitek: Well, sort of. The line between science and magic is basically arbitrary in CthulhuTech, based off the ability of humanity to understand the underlying principles without going crazy. The D-Engines, with their whole infinite-energy-but-finite-power nature are a clear example of this trope, though.
  • Maligned Mixed Marriage:
    • There's a consensus in the Nazzadi community that they should be building their own Nazzadi culture, and part of that means marrying and producing children with other Nazzadi. Nazzadi who marry humans or who become parents of xenomixes are not well liked if they choose to raise their child human.
    • This goes double for the ISC, where the taboo was never dispelled like it was on Earth, with 1st edition stating Xenomix player characters from the Solar Colonies are impossible.
  • Magnetic Weapons: Both Rail and Gauss guns seem to be the NEG/NSC's specialty for more unorthodox infantry firearms.
  • Masquerade:
    • The NEG with its Ministry of Information tries really hard to hide how utterly screwed humanity is.
    • The "Strangers", offshoots of humans that live outside of or within normal human society, using prosthetics and underground contacts to hide their true natures from the main three in the name of avoiding capture.
  • Mana: Orgone or Ruach in 1st edition, renamed into "Anchor" in 2nd edition, in reference to Sorcerors unmooring themselves from reality to perform their magic, with too much Anchor loss causing them to end up "lost at sea" in this metaphor.
  • Mêlée à Trois: The Migou, Humans/Nazzadi-run NEG, and Cults all want each other dead/conquered/changed.
  • Metaplot: Present and integrated into the game mechanics. By the rules as written, the largest available XP award available to characters comes from witnessing the end of a metaplot arc.
  • Mind Rape: Oh so very common. It happens just from looking at some of the things that humanity has to fight. It can also be done by parapsychics, and the OIS does it to people it suspects of involvement in cults.
  • Mook: The Vade Mecum sourcebook for 1st edition introduced these as part of the "Scrub Combat" combat optional rule. 2nd Edition has this as the default for non-major NPC's.
  • Mon:
    • Project Nephilim introduces 'CthulhuTech'''s own take on the anime genre, with genetically engineered mini-Engel horrors that have to be kept under control by psychic handlers, risking berserker rage from the construct, especially toward their controller if the connection is ever severed and unable to be reestablished.
    • There's also a plethora of spells which allow sorcerers to summon various Eldritch Abominations and bind them to their command, usually to serve as assassins or bodyguards.
  • Mirror Monster: The doppelgangers that stalk the realm of mirrors in 2nd Edition dubbed the Fractured Hall will pursue and attempt to make physical contact with the original, with a currently unknown but disturbing result.
  • Mission Control: The Eldritch Society Operators are mortal members who serve as communications officers and researchers for attached Tager packs.
  • Mo Cap Mecha: Justified as every D-Engine-powered vehicle makes the driver/pilot feel like it is an extension of their own body, further amplified the more it resembles the operator's own anatomy, leading to power armor and mecha feeling like the user's own body and moving as such, though not to the point of sensations such as pain.
  • Mobile City: While the continent of Australia may have fallen to the Ravening Storm, it's survivors continue life in a mobile fleet under NSC jurisdiction.
  • Multiple Endings: Right now, none of them look very good. Likely endings include human extinction, getting enslaved by a Mythos race, and surviving to become a Mythos race. The best possible one may very well be getting the hell away from Earth through whatever means necessary — and it would still imply only a fraction could escape — or becoming an independent Mythos species that has not renounced recognizable morality.
  • Mutant Draft Board: All parapsychics (people born with innate abilities, which can range from mind control to having control over gravity) have to register with the Office of Internal Security, be tested, are subjected to surveillance, and if their powers are deemed Invasive or Dangerous, they have to wear badges in public to inform people of it. In particular, Gravikinetics specifically get the full brunt of this trope and are forced to join the NEG; they're seen as just too dangerous to leave off a leash. On the other hand, looking at what kind of place the CthulhuTech setting is, it's fairly justified.
  • Nail 'Em:
    • Apart from certain Tagers and Dhoanoids having access to spikes in melee and/or ranged combat, there are also needle guns that shoot out a shot-gun-like spread of metal slivers. Rail and gauss guns are also stated to have quite the pinning/staggering effect, even if little to no damage is inflicted on the target, along with propelling large needles at a rapid rate of fire.
    • Migou Infantry are quite fond of more single-projectile-type needle-guns, some coated with Neuro-toxin.
    • Dagonite Needler weapons have the unique feature of being able to fired in extremely devastating and tightly-grouped volleys, giving them the highest damage potential of any non-vehicular, non-Hybrid/Integrity damage firearm in 1st edition. They can also be coated in paralytic, exotic sea-life-derived neuro-toxin for ease of capture.
  • Negative Space Wedgie: The Zone, which is what happens when you try to compress infinite dimensions into just three. As it turns out, it doesn't work out well at all.
  • Omnicidal Maniac: The Rapine Storm/Ravening Storm is literally Hastur's death squad for scouring the Earth in preparation for the Great Old Ones arrival. Any human member is likely this, even Tcho-Tcho loyalists (who are fully aware Hastur regards them as temporarily useful vermin).
  • Only One Name: Nazzadi don't use surnames. They identify themselves by occupation, instead.
  • Orcus on His Throne: Hastur. Sure, the Ravenous Storm does all of his dirty work, but if a Great Old One - even a weakened one - actually entered the Mêlée à Trois himself, it would be over very quickly. It's implied in First Edition, made clear in Second that he's actually unable to leave his domain on the Plateau of Leng, but he's an Eldritch Abomination, so it's hard to say for certain.
  • Organic Technology: Migou mecha are implied to be at least partially biological, Tagers when "suited up" look like they're wearing organic Powered Armor, and Engels are basically cybernetically modified clones of Eldritch Abominations covered in armor so they can pass for Giant Mecha.
  • Outgrown Such Silly Superstitions:
    • Subverted in 1E. In the time of the Strange Aeon, Christianity and Islam are effectively dead, but most people are very much spiritual. Also, Buddhism, Judaism and Hinduism are still around, essentially unchanged.
    • Outright defied in 2E; the Aeon War has caused the resurgence of many religions in the face of tragedy. Part of the issue for the NEG is that one can mutate into a sorcerous cult without needing the major cults involved at all, as what happens in the Quickstart adventure (a Babylonian revival movement starts learning to do a variant, much less effective Rite of Transfiguration, which causes a disaster in a Chrysalis facility when they attack to poison a food supply as a ritual sacrifice to Nergal and causes the Eldritch Society to investigate what spooked the local Dhohanoids so much).
  • Palette Swap: The Migou mecha have new design in Mortal Remains, but the description say they're same as the old design, both in function and stats.
  • Path of Inspiration: The Church of All, which is actually a front for the Esoteric Order of Dagon. The basic beliefs of the cult are innocent enough for the NEG to leave them alone, but once an initiate is introduced to Harmony, they're well on their way to being a full-blown Dagonite.
  • Pet the Dog: Migou turn humans into 'blank' slaves by invasive brainwashing... on the other hand, blanks retain their memory and identity, are allowed to have a vaguely normal life, and are treated very well by their masters.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse:
    • Any power armor or smaller mech fitted with a Charge Beam. Of special note is the Kris Power armor, with it's arm-mounted Arcanowave Cannon.
    • The Desolate One's, former sorcerors and psychics who willingly gave themselves over to Hastur, maintain their diminutive mortal forms but are classed as Integrity (Vehicle) scale for damage resistance.
  • Physical God:
    • Hastur's avatar, the Ragged King.
    • Nyarlathotep as well, being the physical avatar of the soul and messenger of Outer Gods. Consistent with his portrayal as having many simultaneous "Masks", Nyarlathotep currently has two avatars on Earth (at least): the Director of the Chrysalis Corporation (the ultimate Corrupt Corporate Executive), and the Blind Lady (who rules The Circle, a splinter cult made up of powerful Evil Sorcerers).
  • Playing with Fire: Pyrokinesis is one of the valid options for psychics, introduced in Vade Mecum. Ancient Enemies introduces the third "Super Tager", the Efreet, which is an Elemental Embodiment of flame that can melt solid metal, breath flames at enemies, is immune to any fire, plasma or explosion-based damage, and radiates heat intense enough to set fire to everything directly nearby. It can also evolve into the Inferno Tager, which gives it all the powers of a Pyrokinetic Psychic as well.
  • Plot Armor:
    • Yog-Sothoth's Guard is designed to be used as this. It grants Nigh Invulnerability and immunity from any kind of restraint to a character for five minutes, is completely indestructible, and is, by design, extremely inconvenient for PCs to use (though it's not impossible if they're planning ahead and willing to spend a significant amount of money in exchange for guaranteed victory). In any published adventure that includes an NPC with the Guard, the writers will put in a statement to the effect of "keep this guy alive regardless of what the players do."
    • Player characters and major non-player-characters in second edition have roughly triple the HP of lesser NPC's.
  • Police State: The NEG/NSC, which is understandable given the amount of threats they face from internal enemies and the Migou's Mind Control. Although, the New Earth Government can also be seen as a more dystopian example of The Federation, which has to follow some policies more suited for Oceania in order to survive.
  • Power Incontinence:
    • When para-psychics overexert themselves, they can enter a state called Burning, wherein they can still use their powers... with the catch that their powers don't turn off for quite a while. Zoners are in a permanent state of Burning, so you can probably figure out why they're considered a public menace. For reference, a para-psychic whose skill at pyrokinesis can barely heat up cold coffee are capable of making a house explode when they Burn. No pun intended.
    • In second edition, Psions are centered heavily around this, potentially capable of causing mass destruction with but an idle thought without the proper discipline, and perform their abilities through selective and limited relinquishing of their own control.
  • Powered Armor:
    • Smaller mechs, such as the Crusader and Centurion, are actually mechanical suits than a conventional vehicle. Unveiled Threats also include Spectrashield Exo-skeletal Armor, which still counted as armor instead of mecha.
    • Tagers in their One-Winged Angel form can be technically seen as an Organic Technology version of this, just like the Guyver; their Ta'ge manifests over their human self, and usually significantly stronger.
    • Despite the fact that the Order of Dagon prefers Kaiju like Megalodon over Humongous Mecha, they still equip their basic troopers with this to stand up to the New Earth Government; it's not uncommon for Deep Ones to attack in amphibious models of power armor.
    • Second Edition introduces Exo-Armor, a shorter, more frailer take on power armor used within arcologies to take down eldritch incursions that aren't big enough to warrant a full mecha or power armor that might damage the arcology. This extends to being only about 8 feet tall as opposed to a power armor's 10 feet.
  • Powered by a Forsaken Child: QBatteries. Literally — it's got a human fetus inside. Gotta love the Chrysalis Corporation!
  • Press Start to Game Over: If you choose the Para-psychic archetype, Rules-As-Written, you start the game with a random mental disorder. If you roll a 100 for your mental disorder, your character is instantly comatose. Game over!
  • Proud Warrior Race Guy: Nazzadi were literally engineered to be this, and had a false culture of a militaristic empire implanted in their heads by the Migou. Even though they know it's false by now, said culture is why they stood up to the Migou, so they've kept it. In 2nd Edition only the 7th (Heliodor) and 1st Legions (Amethyst) embody this, the former as part of their culture of turning their false traditions into real, more positive interpretations of said traditions, the latter with a culture of tight discipline and organization.
  • Precursor Killers: The Migou in Second Edition are responsible for the destruction of at least one advanced species native to Earth. Seeing as how humanity evolved (again) and then cracked their science, they've realized nuking the planet is a temporary solution, and seek to conquer it instead.
  • Principles Zealot: Eldritch Society members are conditioned to be fanatical so as to be incorruptible. The younger generation of ISC-born soldiers is also extra-zealous about fighting for mankind. They narrowly avoid Knight Templar because they're willing to accept more inhuman help, and in the case of the ES, recognize not everything associated with the Old Ones is their thrall, as shown by accepting Tcho-Tcho refugees.
  • Properly Paranoid: The NEG/NSC and just about everyone else involved in the Shadow War, as enemy agents/cult members can truly look like and be anyone.
  • Psychic Powers: Parapsychics, who can vary quite a lot in power. At the low end, they can keep their coffee hot. At the high end, they can crush a Humongous Mecha into a little tin can, set fire to entire buildings with a thought, and rebuild your personality from the ground up. For this reason, they're subject to mandatory registration with the OIS, and those with powers deemed Dangerous or Invasive have to wear public identity tags. On the plus side, both the government and corporations love their abilities, so they tend to migrate to high paying jobs.
  • The Quisling:
    • Many people who believe (perhaps correctly) that humanity will lose the Aeon War become this. Despairing Humans tend to go to the cults, and Nazzadi seek to return to the Migou's service, believing that they will be spared if they work for their former masters. If they aren't killed outright, the Nazzadi tend not to last long.
    • The Helasi cult of Nazzadi culture is dedicated to lethally removing these from Earth-settled Nazzadi society, including leaving their victims in gruesome public displays as a warning to anyone who would dare consider or pursue a return to their former masters.
  • Rail Roading: The sample adventures in 1E are notorious for forcing players into a set path without deviation or agency, to avoid disturbing the metaplot. A goal of Second Edition is to avert this.
  • Raised as a Host: Both Tager and Dhoanoid candidates are given training to prepare them for their respective bonding rites.
  • Rape as Drama: Used a lot in sample adventures in 1E, with sex traffickers (including of minors) and mind-controlling horny animal people. Along with this, this was the EOD's main form of reproduction on an industrial scale in 1st edition, and a common hobby of the Rapine Storm. The Death Shadows cult was also heavily centered around causing this.
  • Rape Is a Special Kind of Evil: Used to an egregious degree in 1st edition. 2nd Edition does it's best to make the evil factions bad in more distinct and unique ways.
  • Rape, Pillage, and Burn: The MO of the Rapine Storm's humanoid followers in 1st edition, 2nd edition making them more high-functioning and disciplined than that - but still fundamentally about the Ravenous Storm thinking everything's doomed anyway, so might as well rule the wreckage.
  • Reasonable Authority Figure:
    • The NSC in 2nd edition are quite competent in hunting down and cracking down on eldritch incursions, however due to Meta Plot events they are severely understaffed and thus a lot can slip by their surveillance, or force them to only be able to focus on a few disasters at a time. This is useful for both the player characters and those they fight against.
    • The OIS in second edition also understands that the Eldritch Society are the closest to the good guys in the Shadow War between cults, and has an unofficial non-aggression pact that occasionally becomes a full alliance when they're after the same Religion of Evil; it's explicit it may become a longer-term partnership.
  • Recruiters Always Lie: The NEG runs a recruitment program that allows citizens to sign up for temporary enlistment. In theory, a recruit would join the armed forces for two years, and they get a ton of benefits from it. In practice, the wording of the small print at the bottom of the contracts is so vague that the NEG can keep them for as long as they're needed.
  • Rei Ayanami Expy:
    • The White Xenomixes are essentially CthulhuTech's take on Rei Expies: essentially asocial not-quite-humans, with pale skin and hair, near-perfect control over their selves and emotions and psychic abilities. Also, as of the beginning of the first edition, the oldest Whites are teenagers.
    • Inverted personality-wise with the 8th Legion Nazzadi (Moonstone) and Amlati (Platinum) replacing them in 2nd Edition, who tend to be among the most energetic and extroverted of the Legions.
  • Religion of Evil:
    • Subverted in the form of the Eldritch Society — they are a cult of the Elder Gods, but the thing is, the Elder Gods are not interested in Earth, except as mild fondness to humanity. They're very much La Résistance against the Great Old Ones, who are actually invading, and helping Strangers who just want to live in the arcologies settle despite the massive fear of anything seemingly not pure Human, Nazzadi, or Amlati.
    • Played straight with a lot of other cults, however; generally, the Eldritch Society is the first line of defense against them.
  • Reptilian Conspiracy: Subverted; the Valusians are indeed dinosaur-descended Lizard Folk who are growing infiltrator Viperborn hybrids to serve as their agents in the NEG...specifically, their ambassadors, as the Valusians want humanity to win and help keep them free of the Migou. Viperborn are also a playable species.
  • Ret-Gone: The GIA (Global Intelligence Agency) and it's duties from first edition appear to have been folded into the OIS in second edition. Also all the problematic writings/worldly happenings from 1st ed such as Deep One Rape Camps and the Xan-Tuum Violator are gone aswell.
  • Self-Censored Release: The 2nd edition notably cuts down on the gratuity of the first edition, being for ages 14 and up by default, with the option for GM's and players to import the more gruesome aspects from 1e or create their own.
  • Space Clothes: Zig-zagged with arcology fashion, ranging from familiar clothes pieces with a futuristic flair to far more alien ensembles.
  • State Sec: The Office of Internal Security. They're supposed to just be the police for Functional Magic-related crimes, but in practice, they seem a lot more like a more democratic Ministry of Love, which is probably a good thing considering what kind of enemies they have. Considering that they do themselves employ parapsychics to counter hostile parapsychics and that they have an extensive R&D division running... experiments on their more interesting detainees, the OIS crosses over from State Sec into a kind of Ghostapo at a few points.
  • STD Immunity: STDs have essentially been eradicated in the NEG, and any new outbreaks can be quickly solved with a little arcanotherapy.
  • Succubi and Incubi:
    • What the "Horned One's" from Damnation View were supposed to act as. However the immense violation of player agency that they were, they were quickly made Canon Discontinuity in 2nd edition, via Shub-Nagorath being thwarted from establishing a presence on Earth thanks to the Eldritch Society.
    • The Vassiamon Dhoanoid acts as this for the Chrysalis corporation by being able to know and assume the form of a target's sexual ideal before benefitting in some manner from them, up to and including isolating a target for murder.
  • Super-Speed: One of the psionic disciplines in 1e, and the defining feature of Nazzadi-designed mecha and power armor.
  • The Unmasqued World: Magic is public knowledge and is taught in schools as a science. Supernatural entities and alien species that were once hiding in the dark corners of the Earth/Universe in other Lovecraftian media are more or less known to the public in the Strange Aeon, however mostly in what the government lets people know.
  • Token Evil Teammate: Being bound to a Nightmare or a Vampire symbiote in first edition often steered the character in this direction, as the thoughts and personality alterations imparted leaned toward maliciously destructive and sadistic.
  • Took a Level in Badass: All Splats in 2nd edition have gotten a sizable boost to their capabillities, including the one's considered painfully subpar in 1st edition (Sorcerers, Psychics without heavy XP investment and Nephilim Controllers), and the abillity to evolve one's capabillities further beyond just regular skills.
  • Thou Shalt Not Kill: Thanks to heavy reduction of the humanoid population, Arcologies in 2nd edition have instituted a "Human Life is the most valuable resource" policy, resulting in murder being investigated and prosecuted harder than just about any other crime, forcing the player characters to incapacitate or otherwise bypass any humanoid obstacle instead of killing them to avoid major trouble. Hostile cultists, however, are often the exception to this, as are the lands outside NSC jurisdiction. This is partly why the Eldritch Society trains its Tagers in nonviolent espionage; besides being ethical to Punch Clock Villains who have no idea the Chrysalis Corporation is under the leadership of Nyarlahotep, it avoids attention from the authorities that would not enjoy discovering the massive amount of Strangers they smuggle into arcologies.
  • Training from Hell: How Tagers are prepared to bind with their symbiont. First, they're practically tortured and emotionally manipulated by their instructors for at least six months, in order to learn how to maintain complete control over their bodies and minds. Then, they undergo the Rite of the Sacred Union, a three-day ritual in which they can't eat, drink, or sleep, having to remain focused the entire time. If everything goes correctly, they permanently fuse with a monster from beyond space and time. If something goes wrong, well...
  • Transhuman Aliens: It's heavily implied humanity is in the process to doing this to itself. It's either that or extinction. The early signs are various Stranger peoples like Viperborn, who are Valusian-human hybrids, or Tcho-Tcho, who have a deep tie to dark magic (to their detriment if they aren't loyal to the Old Ones). Tagers are another, being symbiotically bonded to strange aliens, while Dhohanoids are a potential Bad Future of humanity, having shed all empathy and sworn themselves to Nyarlathotep in the name of survival.
  • Uncanny Valley:
    • What the "Misfit"/"Creeps" drawbacks from 1st and 2nd edition respectively are meant to invoke. Strangers in second edition have this drawback by default, even when obscuring their unusual features.
    • This was also invoked by the Migou when designing the Nazzadi in first edition, eventually humanity went on to see much, *much* worse and it no longer applies to most of them.
  • Unstoppable Rage: What Nephilim enter when powered on with an incapacitated pilot. Similair occurs with Nephilim with the added additional cause of the controller moving out of signal range.
  • Unusable Enemy Equipment: Apart from not being designed for humanoid hands, Migou equipment often operates on a neural interface system that has caused death or madness in other species attempting to use it.
  • Villain Protagonist: Mortal Remains has rules for playing as Migou, while the rules for playing both Dhohanoids and mundane (but in on it) Chrysalis personnel are in Ancient Enemies.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: Both Chrysalis and the Church Of All enact and financially back noble ventures to maintain a positive public front, such as hospitals and food production facillities.
  • War Is Hell: Especially with war crime laws being suspended indefinately and the whole of humanity (and it's relatives) being at stake.
  • Warrior Poet: The Nazzadi were specifically created by the Migou to be intelligent ass-kickers, and it shows. Also, one of the things that gnaws at the Nazzadi is that as a cloned race with no members chronologically in their 40s, they have no true culture of their own, and are desperate to create one. Therefore, any of the 2nd generation Nazzadi who take up one of the arts are highly prized by their families and the Nazzadi as a whole.
  • We Will Wear Armor in the Future: From concealable vests capable of stopping bullet and claw alike to ten-foot-tall suits of power armor.
  • With Great Power Comes Great Insanity: Made entirely optional in Second Edition, though it is also entire possible to manifest this with a power-drunk character or trauma due to unintended mass destruction.
  • Wild Card: Among the Nazzadi Legions, the 4th (Jet Black/Grey) are this, culturally being the most adventerous and open-minded to experience.
  • Wave-Motion Gun: Arcanowave weapons for the ISC and NEG/NSC, Null Ray weapons for the Migou.
  • What Measure Is a Mook?: Zig-Zagged in 2nd Edition, regular security, law enforcement and Punch-Clock Villains are best spared (see Thou Shalt Not Kill above), however cultists, members of the Invader factions along with people outside of NSC territory are free game for lethal force.
  • Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?:
    • Invoked and justified in Mortal Remains. There are three simple methods that Migou could have use to ensure victory, but none are practical. First is a mass nuclear attack; however, they want Earth to remain habitable. Second is an engineered virus that could kill all Nazzadi, but their DNA is so close to humans that the virus will kill all humans as well, and the Migou want us as labor animals. Finally, there's orbital bombardment from their hive ship, but the Migou learned that humanity is capable of attacking orbital targets from ground with unlaunched sattelites, and thus it's risky to move the hive ship close to Earth. However, if it looks like they will lose the war, or if it looks like the Old Ones are truly going to return en masse, they will use both nukes and virus.
    • The NSC itself cannot launch or teleport nukes into the bases and territories of major threats due to heavy arcane warding.
  • Wounded Gazelle Gambit: What sinister organizations with wholesome public fronts in the Shadow War such as the Church Of All are likely to pull if those trying to combat them don't play cautiously, especially with the copious amounts of regular, not-in-on-it employees/members they are likely to enlist.
  • You Have Failed Me: The Migou consider the Nazzadi as failed experiments, and mercilessly kill them on sight.