This is a suggested set of rules to advise Keepers/GMs as to how to convert PCs/NPCs from CoC to Nemesis ORE.  The main points are that:

1) It makes use of "la belle curve" a lot.
2) Because CoC uses just skill rolls and Nemesis uses stat+skill, Nemesis PCs stats come out somewhat less impressive stat-wise (1d to 3d), but lots of skills!  This is okay because Lovecraft's protagonists tend to be less physical and more cerebral.
3) The skill list for Nemesis has been expanded to cover CoCs large number of skills.
4) An example of a conversion is included - see Harvey Walters in all his Nemesis ORE glory!

Notes on differences and difficulties: 

There are some quiet fundamental differences between CoC and Nemesis PCs, which are outlined as follows: 

a) Nemesis ORE is very reminiscent of the old WEG version of SWRPG.  In order to attempt a task, you roll a dice pool consisting of a stat + relevant skill.

      CoC’s BRPS doesn’t use this and relies on just the skill roll. 

b) The improvement of character skills in CoC is slow, but steady in increments of 1% to 3%.  Nemesis is more quantum, the percentages jump can quite dramatically as additional die are added to the dice pool and unevenly.  (e.g. the improvement from 2d to 3d is +18%, but 3d to 4d is +22%, while 4d to 5d is +20%, etc – see la belle curve below.) 

c) Skill list for CoC is huge!  The range of skills in Nemesis is somewhat more limited.  (e.g. there is no Library Use or Administration skill.)  The reason why is there are less skills in Nemesis, is that characters have fewer equivalent skill points to specialise in than in CoC. 

d) Sanity in CoC is a huge stat, which can be chipped constantly away at in the course of several games.  Sometimes you may even escape unscathed.  SAN is a rewarded offered at the end of each session.

There is no SAN reward in Nemesis – you either are affected, or you aren’t.  And things that are worse than what you have been affected by before can only affect you.  Sanity in Nemesis has four different strands too, and like a chair missing a leg, the mind falls over if one of those strands is removed. 

e) Mythos in CoC can be gained by insane insight or by reading rare mind shattering forbidden tomes.  In Nemesis you only have insane insight – no books. 
 

Conversion Rules (v.1.4) 

1. Remind yourself of the percentage thresholds from “la belle curve”.  This is a hugely important table and you’ll need to refer to it a lot.  The table is reproduced below:

NOTE:  Throughout his article I have tried to whenever to refer to a stat or a skill from CoC, it will be italics, whilst Nemesis ORE stats and skills are in plain text.  At each stage I've applied the suggested conversion rules to Harvey Walters, the example PC from the CoC Rulebook (v.5.5). 

2. Review the character’s stats.

As a general rule, if the CoC value falls between 1-6 award 1d, 7-12 award 2d and 13-18 award 3d.   

For calculating the Sense stat we have to refer to the Spot Hidden and Listen skills in CoC.  If the character has just the base average 25% in CoC, then award the character 2d in Sense.  Higher values of Spot Hidden skill will add to Seeing and Search skills in Nemesis.  Higher values of Listen will add to Hearing skill in Nemesis. 

e.g. Harvey Walters has the following stats in CoC 

Str 4, Con 14, Siz 16   Average of 11 (round down)
Dex 12
Int 12
App 17, Pow 9    Average of 13
Spot Hidden 25%, Listen 45% Average of 35% 

Converting to Nemesis yields the following Stats: 

Body    2d
Coordination  2d
Sense   3d + Hearing 1d

[Average of 35% for Spot Hidden & Listen skills suggests 3d.  On la belle curve this gives a 28% chance of one or more matches.  1d Hearing is added due to a Listen skill at 45% - Harvey’s player will roll 4d (3d for Sense + 1d for Hearing skill) in total for any Hearing checks, which gives a 50% chance of one or more matches based on la belle curve.] 

Mind   2d
Command  2d
Empathy  2d 

3. Review the character’s skills.

Included here a brief treatment of Library Use and Know.  A more detailed look at Sanity will be considered later.

Note any skill the character has that exceeds 30%, except Credit Rating

Use la belle curve to help work out how many skill dice need to be added for each skill.

A list of CoC skills which are covered by Nemesis are listed below: 

*Skill not included in the Nemesis rules.
**May not exceed the number of hardened or failed notches on the madness meter.
***Medicine skill cannot be higher than the First Aid skill.
****Natural History skill only exists for characters up to and including the 19^th Century.

e.g. Harvey’s skills that exceed 30%are noted below.  We’ve also noted his Credit Rating 26% rating, which will be dealt with later.  The Listen 45% skill, which was dealt with in the above stats section, has been included here too for the sake of completeness.

Translating to Nemesis gives the following dice pools: 

As you can see the percentages are in rough agreement in each system.  I’ve tried to round to the nearest percentage point on la belle curve, but when in doubt remember to ROUND DOWN! 

Note that Harvey’s average of Fist, Head & Kick skills is less than 30%, and so he is ineligible for consideration of Brawling skill. 

But what about the Credit Rating skill?  Well, assume that anyone with a Credit Rating skill has certain Traits awarded depending on the level of the character’s Credit Rating skill.

e.g. Harvey has a Credit Rating skill of 26% which translates as Trait: Backup 1d. 

The conversion of a character’s Sanity in CoC to Nemesis’ Sanity Meter is somewhat more complex.  In Nemesis, the probability of a character failing a horror check is dependent upon certain stats (namely Sense, Mind, Command and Empathy) and the presence of Equilibrium skill.  For newly generated characters, the conversion is relatively straight forward.

To begin with, consider the average number of dice in the following stats: Sense, Mind, Command and Empathy.  Calculate the average number of dice, rounding down of course!  Check la belle curve for the equivalent percentage and the character’s Sanity.  If the character’s Sanity is less than the equivalent percentage found on la belle curve, then you don’t need to award any dice for Equilibrium skill.  If the character’s Sanity is more than the equivalent percentage found on la belle curve, then you do need to award a die or even dice for Equilibrium skill. 

e.g. Harvey has a Sanity of 45%.  His average of dice for Sense, Mind, Command and Empathy is only 2d – equivalent to about 10% on la belle curve.  To obtain a ercentage of 45%, the nearest value on la belle curve is 50%, which corresponds to 4d.  Therefore we award Harvey a skill rating of 2d in Equilibrium. 

But what about calculating the sanity of experienced PCs/NPCs and insane cultists?  The individual Keeper will have to make a determination as to what situations the PCs have experienced and will be able to mark off their Madness Meters accordingly with Failed and Hardened notches.  Likewise for NPCs, keeper will have to consider carefully their prior history – see the section on “Psychopaths and Cultists” p21 of the Nemesis rules and the Madness Meter Guidelines article available in the New Rules section of www.nemesis-system.com.

And finally…

To summarise, this is how Harvey Walters would now look in the Nemesis system.  In total this is a 57d character.  I've also added the Expert trait to allow the PC to develop expert die at a later point, should Harvey survive long enough in his battle against the forces of the Mythos...  For NPCs Keepers/GMs may feel this is not appropriate save for the most important of antagonists.  

Stats

Skills

Traits

Backup 1d
Expert 4d

Spells

none