Call of Cthulhu

When you have already met some people in the ttrpg hobby you have probably already heard of this game called “Call of Cthulhu”? 

It is probably the most popular game after D&D afterall.

But what can you expect from coc?

In Call of Cthulhu you are not playing heroes.
Rather, everyday people who get caught up in a cosmic nightmare. Thus the game is more aimed at investigating what is going on and how to deal with it rather than tactical combat. Combat is lethal.

Where in D&D the roleplay aspect is usually the setup for the combat in Call of Cthulhu the combat is usually the conclusion of the roleplay. 

The games are usually set in the 1920’s but can be set from the dark ages till the far future. Just know that you will always humans.

One of the key features that sets this game aside is its sanity mechanic.
Yes. Your sanity is a resource, just like your HP.
It will be chipped away slowly causing your character to experience bouts of madness which add flavor to the roleplay.
You won’t die from going totally insane. You’ll just become a mumbling lunatic banging his head against the soft walls of the asylum.
Or your character might become a cultist. In either case, when your character is totally drained from its sanity it becomes an npc regardless.

Now, what do you need to start playing?

If you play in real life you might want to buy/bring : 

• A set of ‘polyhedral dice’.
• Pen and paper or a phone/tablet with your digital character sheet. 

If you play online then you want to : 

• Install discord.
• Register an account on dndbeyond.
• Register an account on roll20

How does it play?

You and a group of fellow investigators sit down at a (virtual) table and 1 player will take up the role of the keeper. The keeper will describe the world and what happens in it so you can interact with it.
Doing things is as simple as describing them! Or at least asking the keeper if what you want to do is possible.
To see of you succeed the keeper might ask to roll a die. The lower you roll the better.

When you build your character you will spend points into attributes.
Pick a profession and start spending points in your skills.
You always want to roll under your skill %.

Some characters will be strong, others smart and so on.

When you end up in a fight, all participants will act in a turn.
In Call of Cthulhu you can choose to dodge or fight back against a melee attack. 

Against firearms you can only attempt to dive for cover.

Well that is basically what Call of Cthulhu is about.

If you want to prepare yourself a bit or learn some more you can : 

• Download the basic rules.
• Read the basic rules.
• Some help on creating characters.

Disclaimer: The rules discussed here are not a substitution for the “Core rulkebook.” However, they will help you confidently take your first steps in CoC!

1. Rolling.

It is important to note that in Call of Cthulhu you roll under your skill.
Your rolls have levels of success.
As a rule of thumb : The lower you roll the better the outcome. Unless for dealing damage.

1.1 Success levels.

Critical success : 01
Extreme success : 1/5 or equal.
Hard success : 1/2 or equal.
Regular success : Under or equal.
Failure : Over skill.
Conditional fumble : Roll 96+ on a <50% skill.
Fumble : 100

1.2 Bonus (advantage) / Penalty (disadvantage).

At the GM’s discretion a roll can be granted up to 2 bonus or penalty dice.
Bonus and penalty dice cancel each other out.

1.3 Types of rolls :

Combined skill rolls.
* 1 roll must succeed on several skills at once.

Opposed rolls (player vs player).
* Best level of success wins.
* Cannot be pushed!
* Tie breaker : Highest raw score wins.

Opposed rolls (player vs npc).
* <50% regular difficulty.
* =>50% Hard difficulty.
* =>90 Extreme difficulty.

Helping with a physical task :
* Substract the skill % of all but 1 (preferably the one with the highest raw skill) from the opposed difficulty (DC), the PC not included rolls against that outcome.

Luck :
*
* Group luck = lowest luck score is rolled.

1.4 Manipulating the outcome.

Spend luck by swapping luck points out for lowering the result on the dice with a 1:1 ratio.
* This usage of luck is optional. Consult your keeper to see if this will be used.
* Can’t be used on a fumble.
* Can’t spend luck on luck / damage / pushed / Sanity rolls.
* No skill check is earned if luck is spent!

Push the roll :
Justify how you could try again to get get a better result.
* Can push skill only!
* Can’t push : luck / sanity / combat / damage

2. Sanity.
* When confronted with horror roll against your sanity.
* When you fail the check you lose ?D? sanity. Don’t worry, your keeper will tell you 🙂
* Every monster type has a threshold so keep track of sanity loss per monster type.
Once you reach that threshold you don’t lose any more sanity. Every night of this value drops 1 point again.
* Every sanity loss causes an involuntary action.
* The first time you lose sanity from mythos add 5 points of cthulhu mythos. After that 1.
* When you lose => 5 Sanity from one source you must make an INT roll. If you succeed (roll under) you become temporary insane for 1D10 hours.
* When you lose 20% sanity in a day you go indefinatly insane. Lasts untill cured.
* When you have 0 sanity left your pc becomes an insane npc.

3. Combat.

4. Wounds / healing.

5.

 

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