Call of Cthulhu
I have never played Call of Cthulhu. I know, right! I've been playing RPGs since the 1980s and this classic game has somehow eluded my experience. But the release of the latest edition of the game and the YouTube game reviews of Seth Skorkowsky have pushed me over the edge. I can take it no longer. I must have this game.
I don't know if this most recent version of the game will see any more action, but I made the decision to buy it. Actually, the cashier at the Gamer's Wharf made the decision. I asked him which I should get Call of Cthulhu or Cyberpunk Red. I think we know how that query went.
First, I feel the need to defend my purchase and herald my incredible reserves of willpower. I wanted to buy the Keeper Rulebook, Investigator Handbook, and Pulp Cthulhu. Instead I decided to give it a try before I buy the farm. Am I not a bastion of strength.
Call of Cthulhu was first released in 1981 and is on it's 7th edition. It's been a steadfast resident on all of the best games lists for most of that time. Going so far as to claim title to "The World’s Best Game Of Intrigue, Mystery & Horror!" on their website.
If you're unfamiliar with the game, it is a horror roleplaying game set in the 1920s. More specifically, it is a game of Lovecraftian horror (i.e. inspired by the stories of H.P. Lovecraft). It's a game where the players are not superheroes, but regular people investigating the unknowable, stumbling upon ancient horrors from beyond space and time, and fighting a battle with themselves to hold onto their very sanity. Sounds like fun, right.
The players take on the role of steadfast investigators from a variety of backgrounds (librarians, police, reporters, janitors, professors, teamsters, doctors, etc... they're regular folk). They travel to strange and dangerous places, uncover foul plots, and stand against the terrors of the Cthulhu Mythos. As the keeper, I get the opportunity to throw encounters with sanity-blasting entities, monsters, and insane cultists at these regular folk. Rewarding their investigations by letting them discover strange cults of true believers, forgotten tomes of lore, and revelations that humanity was not meant to know.
The Old Ones ruled the earth aeons before the rise of humanity. Traces of their cyclopean cities can still be found on remote islands, buried amid the shifting desert sands, and in the frozen wastes of the polar extremes. Originally they came to this world from the stars. They sleep now, some deep within the earth or beneath the sea.
When the stars are right they shall again walk the earth.
This book contains the core rules, background, guidance, spells, and monsters of the game. It is everything you need for Call of Cthulhu at your fingertips, and will enhance all of your games. The Keeper Rulebook is intended for use by the Keeper of Arcane Lore—the Game Master who will present the scenarios to the other players.
The Keeper Rulebook is a veritable grimoire of rules and inspiration to make your Call of Cthulhu games the absolute best they can be. Within, you’ll find: A bestiary of Mythos entities to pepper your Call of Cthulhu scenarios and campaigns; two complete scenarios, handouts and pregenerated characters; full rules for the Sanity system that sets Call of Cthulhu apart from other horror games, and much more!
For those of us more familiar with Dungeons & Dragons, the Keeper Rulebook is the Dungeon Masters Guide equivalent. The Investigator Handbook, which i did not buy, is the Player's Handbook. And the rules I'm more likely to use with my players, Pulp Cthulhu, is a tweak to the rules to give the game more action oriented feels, think, two-fisted action against Gods beyond Space and Time! Or think Indiana Jones as opposed to Hellraiser.
I haven't played the game yet, I don't know if that last is even a good comparison. But I am looking forward to digging into the rules and seeing what this classic is all about, creating a scenario, and getting some players together to face the horror.
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