Call of Cthulhu humble bundle

[Vodkafone]

This is a cracking bundle for anyone who already plays or is interested in the Call of Cthulhu RPG

It doesn't have the full rule book but has enough to get you started plus loads of scenarios and resources.

[Noodle Lizard]

I don't play this yet, but I like the Eldritch and would like to become more of a nerd. Is it relatively accessible to get started without prior knowledge of these kinds of things (D&D and the like), and would be probably playing with 2 other people max because I have no mates?

All PDFs, it seems, so are we all to gather around a Kindle or do you print stuff out?

[seepage]

The Call of Cthulhu rules are quite simple, and different to D&D (mostly rolling under target percentages instead of the slightly confusing D&D d20 system)

tablet/laptop + printed character sheets, unless everyone's on Discord

[Noodle Lizard]

Nice. Is it scaaary?

I've wanted to get into tabletop RPGs for ages but it's a bit daunting. We got a starter set for D&D a while ago but couldn't (be bothered to) make head nor tail of even the first page of instructions. I don't want to co-opt this thread with general suggestions, but would this be a decent enough entry into the genre?

[Jack Shaftoe]

Call of Cthulhu is a good way into rpgs and there's a very handy series of instruction videos on YouTube which are worth checking out. It does get a bit fiddly when it comes to casting spells and that, but that's further into the game and you can get by with just the combat and sanity rolls initially. 7th edition (the latest one) is lovely to play, they've streamlined it a bit.

I've been running a campaign using the Regency sourcebook, basically Jane Austen with tentacles and monsters and it's great, especially if you use the Reputation rules which mean the posho characters are playing a slightly different game to the plebs and trying not to lose face or get into scandals. We played a whole session at a ball with gambling and dancing rules and it was so engrossing we only remembered towards the end that there was going to be madness and arcane rituals and that sort of thing as well.

[Vodkafone]

I don't play this yet, but I like the Eldritch and would like to become more of a nerd. Is it relatively accessible to get started without prior knowledge of these kinds of things (D&D and the like), and would be probably playing with 2 other people max because I have no mates?

All PDFs, it seems, so are we all to gather around a Kindle or do you print stuff out?

You can buy physical books, which I overall prefer, but these are a bargain. Only the person running it needs the material, so a tablet or laptop for them is fine.

It's a simple rules system really, sometimes it can feel more like guided group story telling than a game in the traditional sense, but with a smattering of dice rolls.

It can be genuinely scary or at least creepy and unnerving - to be honest, I can be a bit of a cunt about it because I take it semi-seriously. I want it to be an immersive experience that people invest in so you can feel scared or creeped out, and I therefore don't like it if it's all jokey. It's partly down to the skill of the person running it ('the keeper') and partly down to everyone else's roleplaying and getting into the spirit of it that really makes it work. And playing in the dark, the latter at night the better.

Playing with three people is viable, though it might exclude some scenarios.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Less is more with CoC, it's quite fun to give the players hints of scary things but actually keep the weird beasties to a minimum and let the players freak themselves out. The Weird Fiction bit of the donjon random generator site is great for quickly coming up with bits of weirdness - https://donjon.bin.sh/weird/random/#type=coc_song

A young flapper hums a haunting version of "The Sheik of Araby" by Ted Snyder while waiting for her friend. If you listen to the song, make a Sanity roll. If you fail this roll, you are momentarily overwhelmed by the smell of ozone.

[Mr Trumpet]

Not enough tabletop RPG chat on this forum

[Famous Mortimer]

Not enough tabletop RPG chat on this forum

Agreed. I miss it a lot, being 4000 miles away from my mates who I used to do it with. If there are people around me running RPGs, they're keeping it to themselves. Or they think I'm dull as piss (likely).

My memory of CoC is...20-odd years old, so I'd love to have a go at it with the newer rules.

[seepage]

Nice. Is it scaaary?

I've wanted to get into tabletop RPGs for ages but it's a bit daunting. We got a starter set for D&D a while ago but couldn't (be bothered to) make head nor tail of even the first page of instructions. I don't want to co-opt this thread with general suggestions, but would this be a decent enough entry into the genre?

Chaosium also do 'Basic Roleplaying', the core rules for all their other games, which has a free trial book to download: https://www.chaosium.com/brp-classic/

I use the 'Hero Lab Classic' program to create characters and track combat etc. You can also code your own custom game system with it! - I did one ripped off from a computer RPG I like

[Milo]

I don't play this yet, but I like the Eldritch and would like to become more of a nerd. Is it relatively accessible to get started without prior knowledge of these kinds of things (D&D and the like), and would be probably playing with 2 other people max because I have no mates?

There's Cthulhu Confidential on the Gumshoe One-2-One system if you're short on people:

https://pelgranepress.com/product/cthulhu-confidential/

It's one GM, one player. I've got the book but never had anyone to play with.

[Vodkafone]

There's Cthulhu Confidential on the Gumshoe One-2-One system if you're short on people:

https://pelgranepress.com/product/cthulhu-confidential/

It's one GM, one player. I've got the book but never had anyone to play with.

I played one of those online during Covid times, it was actually very good. Quite pressured, cos normally there's other players who might have more appropriate skills to bail you out, but this was quite different.

[Milo]

Does sound like it might be quite intense. I think the GM especially would have to be really on top of the material for it not to flounder.

[Vodkafone]

Less is more with CoC, it's quite fun to give the players hints of scary things but actually keep the weird beasties to a minimum and let the players freak themselves out. The Weird Fiction bit of the donjon random generator site is great for quickly coming up with bits of weirdness - https://donjon.bin.sh/weird/random/#type=coc_song

That generator is handy, thanks.

Yeah, less is more. If I'm running an adventure, I like to have a few occasions where I go into a lot of detail in describing something in the environment: the rough feel of a door the investigator is listening at, the draught coming up through the floorboards, the way that light filters through trees. I find it works a bit like the music in a film - a warning that something might be about to happen. You have to do it so that it doesn't always signify that something bad is going to happen or it becomes too predictable, but it can help to really put the players in the adventure. If I can get people to the point that they really, really don't want to enter the decaying house / old church / musty attic or whatever, then I feel like I've done my job.

[Jack Shaftoe]

Yeah, the classic 'The Haunting' scenario most people use as the first session is a cracker for that, it's quite stripped down, but so atmospheric at least partly because the players simply don't know what to expect so tend to wind each other up far more than you could ever do as a GM. I found loads of handouts online to print out which really added to the atmosphere.

[Noodle Lizard]

Thanks for the responses/advice, it all sounds very intriguing and potentially a rabbit hole I could fall right to the bottom of. Just got to get over the initial hump (and drag a couple of others over it with me). Appreciate it!

[jamiefairlie]

but I like the Eldritch

You're not Wayne Hussey then?

[Vodkafone]

Thanks for the responses/advice, it all sounds very intriguing and potentially a rabbit hole I could fall right to the bottom of. Just got to get over the initial hump (and drag a couple of others over it with me). Appreciate it!

I find it to be one of my most rewarding gaming experiences and can still remember particularly dramatic or satisfying moments from years and years ago. The 4 item bundle gives you enough to give it a whirl - Doors to Darkness gives you five starter scenarios and the Starter Pack gives you a (quite heavily) cut down set of rules, but I'm guessing it's designed to give you enough to play some of the Doors to Darkness scenarios.

For a few quid more, the 10 item bundle gives you the full 7th edition rules, plus Doors to Darkness and three short scenarios in Gateways to Terror. These are designed to be played in a night, although our group is notoriously slow because we faff about and follow up all sorts of leads and have never finished an adventure in two nights, let alone one. But that might be just us tbh.

There's also an absolute shit ton of free or cheap resources online as well, which didn't exist when I started playing. For example, there is a Call of Cthulhu reddit where people post ideas and resources. I posted these files for an Arkham Gazette I created for a campaign I ran and then someone posted a link to loads of other stuff.

[Milo]

Bundle of Holding is worth watching for these sorts of offers too. It's all RPG stuff.

https://bundleofholding.com/

[H-O-W-L]

If you like the Eldritch but want to do a more modern, X-Files/Twin Peaks take on it, then Delta Green is fucking fantastic and all the rules you need to play basic sessions of it (including a first adventure, Last Things Last) are completely free as Delta Green Need To Know.

Currently running my own DG campaign and it's very fun.

[seepage]

^ there's also The Laundry which is the same sort of thing but set in Britain

[Mr Trumpet]

Played a bit of Delta Green, which was fun but somewhat hampered by our GM's one appalling American accent that he used for every character (Hillbilly, New York cop, Native American etc)

[Grassygnome]

The concept of this RPG is great but I always wanted to see some British fans make some really good British material for it, set in the 1920s. I don't think anyone ever pulled it off.  It always seemed to be through the eyes of north Americans.

[H-O-W-L]

The concept of this RPG is great but I always wanted to see some British fans make some really good British material for it, set in the 1920s. I don't think anyone ever pulled it off.  It always seemed to be through the eyes of north Americans.

There are actually British books; Cthulhu Britannia, for CoC, and some good but sparse stuff on Pisces for Delta Green.

[seepage]

I think there was a London sourcebook in the original Masks of Nyarlathotep box set

The Laundry is set in Britain but around the millennium 

[ASFTSN]

There's also A Green And Pleasant Land which iirc covers 30s to 70s Britain.

@Noodle: I really recommend the Mansions of Madness book, it's for older editions but conversion to the newer 7th edition is very easy and there's instructions online. It's five scenarios set around f'd up houses, in particular the scenario Mr Corbitt is great for new starters to the game, especially if running for one or two investigators. Proper creepy.

[H-O-W-L]

Honestly converting stuff between editions and even games in the Mythos sphere (DG to CoC and vice versa for example) is a piece of piss because most of it is just presentation and writing. Slapping the right skill names and check value adjustments is an absolute doddle. Compared to stuff like converting DnD content it is absolutely something that takes no game balance knowledge. I really love Delta Green as I've been running it thus far because it feels far more like a narrative system where the game elements are to facilitate rather than water-check the story.

[seepage]

In CoC 7th edition they changed Characteristics to be out of 100 instead of 20, probably so people don't have to mentally multiply by 5 for some checks.

[H-O-W-L]

DG still uses out of 20 since it's based on 6th iirc, but it's still easily compatible since DG tends to challenge Skill more than Characteristics.

[Milo]

I just want to drop in here a recommendation for Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff:

https://www.kenandrobintalkaboutstuff.com/

They're both involved in the Pelgrane Press and Delta Green/Cthulhu tabletop RPG worlds and the podcast is always a great listen about the technicalities of running an RPG, alternate history stuff, weird things in the news, all sorts.

They are extremely genial company of a Friday.