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We love horror in pen-and-paper! The dark genre fits perfectly with candlelight, eerie music and cryptic dice rolled to decide the fate of the story! Call of Cthulhu offers the right system and background for this.
The system draws from the 🛒horror works of H.P. Lovecraft and sets the action in the fictional 1920s and 1930s. Players take on the roles of investigators of the unexplained and face all sorts of occult happenings, dark magic and indescribable monsters. This experience leaves traces on our heroes, which the Call of Cthulhu game system represents through clever mechanics. We particularly enjoyed the loss of mental health, so-called Sanity points. The more familiar our characters became with the Cthulhu Mythos and the unexplained, the more they had to watch their mental stability to avoid falling prey to the madness of Cthulhu’s world. The Dungeon Master in particular, called the Keeper, had a lot of fun with this role-playing game full of consequences.
We tested Call of Cthulhu for the first time and want to evaluate in this review whether getting into the ruleset with the help of the starter set is worthwhile.
Note: We received this module free of charge as a review copy. We have not signed any contract or similar that influences our opinion, but it is important for us to mention this.
This article contains affiliate links where we receive part of the purchase price. These are marked with a 🛒. If you want to support us, feel free to use these links to buy books, dice or similar items. Thanks 🙂
Call of Cthulhu Starter Set: This is the Content
Pegasus Spiele has been offering a gateway to the depths of Cthulhu since March 2023: the 🛒Cthulhu Starter Box.
At the heart of this box are the introductory rules for the seventh edition of Call of Cthulhu as a booklet. This doesn’t have the scope of the complete rulebook, but contains the most important game mechanics. This is great if you want to start role-playing quickly
A great addition was the solo adventure “Alone Against the Flames,” which invites players to face challenges and mysteries alone. This adventure served as a perfect introduction for me and allows players to familiarize themselves with the basic rules even on their own before diving deep with others.
Three short adventures await to be discovered together: “The Haunting”; “Edge of Darkness” and “Dead Man Stomp”. Each of these adventures is different from the others and leads the group into an unholy world. The adventures are short enough not to escalate into epic campaigns, but exciting enough to keep the players’ interest. The adventures all come with some clues, maps and objects that can be discovered during the adventures. This keeps the preparation time for the Dungeon Master short.
To make entry as easy as possible for newcomers, the box contains pre-made investigators. These characters are already developed and ready to plunge into adventure, allowing players to dive directly into the action. For those who want to create their own characters, blank character sheets are included. Our group found it super practical that finished character sheets were included, as we often struggle with character creation. Upon closer examination, however, character creation in CoC was no more difficult than we’re used to from other role-playing games.
There’s also a practical 🛒Keeper Screen for Cthulhu, which contains necessary information and a set of 🛒role-playing dice.
Call of Cthulhu Starter Set: The Setting of the Horror Role-Playing Game
As a player group traditionally operating in fantasy settings, the setting of the Call of Cthulhu starter set was refreshingly different. In an almost real world from the beginning of the 20th century, it was fun to break away from conventional hero characters and face completely different, more modern challenges.
The atmosphere is dense, often oppressive, and places a strong focus on the unknown and incomprehensible. This setting encourages deep emotional involvement and creates an intense gaming experience that goes far beyond simply defeating monsters. The right role-playing music can also help well here.
The four included adventures provide a great background for learning the ruleset and are diverse enough that you won’t get bored. Sometimes you fight against ghouls, sometimes you investigate cursed jazz instruments or haunted houses in New York where inexplicable things happen.
We also really liked the online available adventure “The Corbitt House“. Here our investigators had to flee from an almost immortal sorcerer:
Additionally, Call of Cthulhu offers a stable foundation, so you can also change the setting and still have a great horror experience. I’ve read that there are different setting books available for CoC.
Call of Cthulhu Starter Set: These Mechanics We Really Liked
- Deadlier Role-Playing: Call of Cthulhu is deadly! Unlike many fantasy systems where characters often survive numerous battles and magical healing is omnipresent, Call of Cthulhu reflects the fragility of investigators in combat with the overpowering. Characters have only a few hit points and regenerate them slowly over longer periods. This deadlier nature of the game increases tension and the creepy atmosphere and forces players to solve conflicts creatively and thoughtfully, instead of relying on direct confrontations.
- Investigative Work: The heart of Call of Cthulhu is investigative work. Players slip into the role of detectives solving mysterious and often supernatural cases. This emphasis on research and detective work offers a refreshing change from combat-centered role-playing games.
- Progressive Character Development: Character development in Call of Cthulhu is progressive and based on the experiences and challenges they encounter in the game. When you successfully pass a skill check, the character gets better at those skills for the rest of the campaign. This makes total sense and leads to characters gradually becoming more experienced in dealing with the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos. This type of character development is immersive and allows players to see their characters grow.
- Simple Dice Principle: The Call of Cthulhu ruleset seems accessible and relatively easy to learn. It avoids overly complex mechanics (not too crunchy) that could disrupt game flow. This simplicity makes it easier for new players to get started and allows the group to focus more on the story and atmosphere instead of getting lost in rule details.
- Smart Thinking in Adventure Solutions: The challenges in Call of Cthulhu are often designed so they cannot be solved through direct combat. The monsters and opponents have various strengths and weaknesses that players must first understand and then strategically exploit. This requires creative thinking as well as thorough planning. This dynamic encourages a more thoughtful approach to the game and rewards players for their ingenuity.
- Madness: We also really liked that, fitting the horror genre, there’s a measurable value for the character’s mental health. CoC thus illustrates the horror and the nature of the 🛒Cthulhu Mythos that is incomprehensible to the human brain. It’s fun to use your character’s madness in role-playing and gave actions consequences beyond the boring loss of hit points.
Call of Cthulhu Starter Set: Our Verdict
Our first excursion into the world of Call of Cthulhu was a complete success. We are thrilled with the dense role-playing atmosphere that the system conjures up and are already looking forward to future adventures and conflicts with the horrors of the Lovecraft world. As newcomers, the starter box supported us well and provided everything we needed to start playing without complications. Particularly helpful were: A reduced rulebook, finished character sheets and a solo adventure, so the Dungeon Master could familiarize themselves with the system in advance. Role-playing veterans might also get by with the simple 🛒Cthulhu: Core Rulebook and not need the additional aids in the starter box. Overall, however, we give a clear recommendation for Call of Cthulhu.
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