Cthulhu comes

This time I will talk about Call Of Cthulhu 7th edition published by Chaosium. I will be upfront, I am a fan of Call of Cthulhu ever since the early 80's when I friend bought the Games Workshop UK edition of 2nd Edition (For the record he also bought their edition of Runequest, my mate had really good taste in RPG's. He bought those, I started with the Basic D&D Red Box) so this will be somewhat biased.

So here's the first two books. The first thing that struck is that the Investigator Handbook cover stood out as a lot better for me. Some say it is a nod to an old AD&D book. Over time I have re-assessed my view of the Keeper Rulebook cover. It is less immediate but when you look at it, you get a sense of scale of what you are looking at, how tiny the ships are and that Cthulhu is blocking out the stars, It is art worthy of being on the Keeper Rulebook.

I will pull two words out of my last sentence - art and rulebook. Rulebook first, it should be made clear, this is the only book you NEED to run Call of Cthulhu, the Investigator Handbooks adds more Character options(and much more) but more of the meaty stuff later. Art - Call of Cthulhu is now full colour. These book are beautiful and this is the norm now for Call of Cthulhu books. Each chapter starts with a two page art spread. An example is below

The paper is high quality, the print and colour is vibrant. So we know the books are beautiful so what do we get in the book, I will give ye a chapter by chapter breakdown

Chapter 1 - Introduction

What it says on the tin, a welcome to the game, example of play, recommended reading list, what you need to play and dice conventions

Chapter 2 H. P. Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos

Again what it says it is. Info on the great man himself and about the Cthulhu Mythos

Chapter 3 Creating Investigators

Twenty plus pages explaining the process of creating characters. Old players will notice the first difference here from the older editions with the stats now being percentile. It is very clearly laid out and easy to follow. There is a selection of sample Occupations (loads more in the Investigator's Handbook). Further steps round out the character such as creating the backstory of the characters

Chapter 4 Skills

Alphabetical listing of the skills available and the basic rules to do with them including other things new to 7th ed. which are the ability to push a skill roll and difficulty levels. Each skill then has a detailed description followed by examples of difficulty and pushing.

Chapter 5 Game System

Less than twenty pages. This is the real benefit of Call of Cthulhu. You are not bogged down with pages and pages of complex rules. The game doesn't need that level of complexity, players can concentrate on roleplaying their characters and the Keeper isn't bookkeeping and can focus on running the game and creating atmosphere.

Chapter 6 Combat

Clear instruction of how the combat round works and a handy Combat Flow Chart. A two page example of combat is provided. Rules for firearms, wounds and healing as well as optional rules such as hit locations.

Chapter 7 Chases

Completely new rules as chases weren't covered before. Also give an example of chase using a scene from "The Call of Cthulhu"

Chapter 8 Sanity

Well ye knew that was coming. It is so integral to the game to represent the horror of the game and the impact upon the player characters.. The art for for the chapter start is wonderful, an asylum patient in torment.

Chapter 9 Magic

This discusses Magic Points and spell casting

Chapter 10 Playing the Game

Has advice for new Keepers as well as advice for experienced Keepers about the rule changes. This chapter is the start of the Keeper section of the book and should be for their eyes only. It is full of solid advice from finding players, how to oversee character generation, playing the non-player characters, setting difficulties of tests etc.

Chapter 11 Tomes of Eldritch Lore

It is the Mythos Tomes whose names will be familiar to seasoned players and Keepers as well as Mythos card players (yep showing my age with that one). Just in case potential players read this i won't going into more detail

Chapter 12 Grimoire

The spells listing over 20ish pages. Recently Chaosium have released the Grand Grimoire of Cthulhu Mythos Magic which gives you loads of spells, their descriptions and alternate names

Chapter 13 Artifacts and Alien Devices

Chapter 14 Monsters, Beasts and Alien Gods

Can't really say much about these without spoilers. Look it is the "crazy Mythos stuff that's out there!" chapters

Chapter 15 Scenarios

Two provided scenarios. Now earlier editions had four scenarios including the classic "The Haunting" but these two look longer adventures. For the record "The Haunting" is available in the Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed Quickstart

Chapter 16 Appendices

Firstly a glossary of the key terminology used in the game. Next is a conversion guide for previous versions of the game. It isn't difficult so there is a wealth of material out there that is usable. There is a steady stream of new product coming out so it is all good for Call of Cthulhu at the moment. Folling that it is equipment lists (split into 20's and modern era(, including weapon lists. Next up is summary of the game rules followed by the index. What follows that is a couple of maps, blank character sheets as well as thank yous for the playtesters and the Kickstarter backers. Two ads for the 7th ed line and the Chaosium fiction close out the book

So, what do I say overall? Easily it is the best looking edition there has been. Rules changes are for the good and not so drastic as to render older supplements obsolete. If you are new to Call of Cthulhu, I honestly think that this is the best time to jump on board. it is not a difficult system to get into and is very well supported with new product as well as the aforementioned usability of older stuff.

If you are an old hand do you NEED it? No but you will probably WANT it. The rules are arguably the best they have ever been as well. It offered me enough to buy it. In an ideal world we want to introduce new players to the game, it'll be 7th ed stuff that they will be able to pick in their local game store.

Speaking of which, of course Chaosium is now part of the Bits & Mortar scheme so you will get a pdf of any book that you buy from your game store. Obviously they also offer that to anyone who purchasing from their webstore.

That's my view of the Keeper Rulebook, the Investigator Handbook will follow in another post.