The Call of Cthulhu Short Review & Thoughts

Call of Cthulhu is a RPG that's been around since the early times of tabletop gaming. Released in 1981 by Chaosium using their BRP D100 rules system. I briefly covered BRP in my OpenQuest review but CoC uses the full version of BRP. If you're unfamiliar with BRP I recommend checking out my OpenQuest review here. The skills and careers are based during the 1930's era but can be played during almost any time period. GMs are called Keeper of Forbidden Knowledge and players are Investigators. The appeal of CoC isn't really the rules but more for the setting although I think the rules go well with the setting.

Full BRP is slightly different than OpenQuest. The major differences are character creation and advancement. First players roll dice to determine their attributes. Characters choose a profession to determine what skills they start off with. Think of them sorta like a template for the type of character you wanna play. You can start from scratch I suppose but this might cause some balance issues between characters and slow things down. To advance skills players check off skills they've use. After a session players roll D100. If they roll higher than their current skill percentage the skill goes up. So the more players use skills the higher they advance and the harder they are to advance later on. There are more detailed difference but these are the biggest two.

Based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft the Cthulhu mythos is a sci-fi horror setting. Ancient alien gods are worshiped by cultist. The gods don't care about humanity but are intertwined and play with humans like toys. This is a very dark and grim setting where it's very easy to die if players aren't careful. The players play as investigators who have some ties with the town and go snooping the weirdness going on. The games usually start off being subtle and evolving more evil as they go on. Characters have a sanity score and the more they know about the mythos they have to roll to keep their sanity. If they fail they'll lose sanity. As characters lose sanity the players start to lose control of their actions by gaining phobias and mental illnesses. Eventually going completely insane and become controlled by the Keeper. This game has a ton of support from Chaosium with several supplements and modules. Currently in the 6th edition but I think technically it's in it's 9th. Because CoC uses BRP little has changed through the decades with the rules. Each edition is more like a reprinting with some slight changes to refine the setting. A supplement from the 80's will work just as good presently.

CoC isn't a game I play as often as I'd like. I love the setting and making adventures but it requires participation from the players. More so than most RPGs. If players are too active they will get into danger and die. Too reserved and they don't get into enough trouble to go deeper in the mythos. This game requires a sweet spot that is hard to meet for most of my groups. I think it has to do with the setting. In Lovecraft stories the characters weren't aware they were in a horror story. They acted just as they would normally any other day. They knew something weird was going on but they didn't expect monster worshiping cults. In the RPG everyone is aware they're in a horror story. Players need to be good at separating what they know with what they're characters know. In a few play troughs it gets better but it's something to be aware of. There is setting for CoC that sorta helps resolve this called Delta Green. Although still a horror game I find it's easier for players to get into that "sweet spot" and there's more mystery. Players aren't as aware of what to expect. I plan on review Delta Green is going to be a future post so check back later. :)