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Drive auto (Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition)

Skills

Definition

Drive Auto is operating an automobile when the driving itself is at stake. Anyone in a 1920s scenario can get a car from one town to the next without rolling. The skill covers what happens when the road is flooded, when a truck is deliberately following you, or when you have to reverse down an unlit farm track with something behind you. At the table it is a strong escape skill and a weak investigative one. Very few clues sit behind a Drive Auto roll, but a great many scenarios end with investigators who need to be somewhere else immediately. One competent driver in the group tends to be worth more than a second gun.

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How it works

**Base Value**: 20% **Key Uses**: - Chases, pursuit, and shaking a tail - Driving on ice, mud, flood, or in fog - Evasive maneuvers under fire - Keeping control after a collision or a blowout **Special Rules**: Routine driving needs no roll at all. Rolls happen when failure has consequences, and extended chases are usually run as repeated opposed Drive Auto rolls against the other driver. Motorcycles and heavy trucks may call for a specialty or a penalty at the Keeper's discretion, and 1920s vehicles are slower, heavier, and far worse at stopping than a modern player expects.

Tips

**Build Advice**: One investigator at 50% or more solves the whole group's escape problem. It starts at 20%, which is enough for ordinary roads and nowhere near enough for a chase. **Occupation Synergies**: Mechanical Repair keeps the car running and fixes what the chase broke. Navigate matters once you leave paved roads, and Spot Hidden lets the driver notice the roadblock in time to do something about it. **Character Concepts**: Engineer, criminal getaway driver, dilettante with a fast car, journalist chasing a story, ambulance or delivery driver.

Frequently asked questions

When do I roll Drive Auto?

Only when failing matters: a chase, bad conditions, a violent maneuver, or a road that is trying to kill you. Driving to the library on a clear day is never a roll.

How do chases work?

Most Keepers run them as a series of opposed Drive Auto rolls, with the environment adding penalty dice and passengers able to help by shooting, navigating, or spotting. Losing several in a row is what ends the chase, not one bad roll.

Does Drive Auto cover motorcycles and trucks?

Basic operation, usually yes. For anything demanding, Keepers often ask for a separate specialty or apply a penalty, since a loaded truck and a motorcycle handle nothing like a touring car.

Further Reading

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