CoC 6th Edition. Some questions.

[dead]

Has anyone played this yet?

Are there any major changes?
(It doesn't sound like there are many because it's supposed to be compatible with 5E.)

When was this released anyway?

Does anyone care?

What's BRP stand for?

 

[haiiro]

I've played loads of CoC, but haven't tried the 6e rules specifically yet.

I don't believe 6e includes any major changes, which is pretty much how Chaosium always updates CoC. There'll be new art, some tweaking, and the layout from the 20th Anniversary edition (which is very nice).

6e was released in early April, if memory serves.

I care. It's black (ooooh, black), and I collect different editions of CoC. Personally, I prefer 4e because it's a bit deadlier than the others.

BRP stands for Basic RolePlaying, and is Chaosium's long-standing system based on percentile dice. They've used it in pretty much everything they've published, and you can even buy it in a standalone booklet for a couple of bucks. It's intuitive and quite good for CoC (I've never tried it with anything else).

 

[Gothmog]

Yep, just started a game of CoC 6th edition up, and it plays exactly like the previous editions. All they did in the new book was incorporate the Limited Edition formatting (which is a big improvement), and add a few clarifications. Heck, you could even grab the old 2nd edition CoC adventures and run them with the 6th edition rules- thats how little CoC has changed over the years.

I think it was released about 2 months ago, give or take a week.

Do I care? HELL YES!!!! BRP CoC is one of the greatest and most enjoyable games of all time, and if you haven't played a CoC game yet, boy are you missing out on a great gaming experience!

And by the way, BRP stands for Basic RolePlaying, which is Chaosium's name for their percentile based system. Its a very simple and efficient system that gets the job done, and doesn't onstruct the horror roleplaying experience with rules and minutiae (which is one of my biggest gripes with d20 CoC).

 

[dead]

Thanks for the update.

I played 5th ed. a few years ago and loved it.

I was thinking of getting back into it with the new edition.

Yeah, I'd love to collect all the old CoC books too.

 

[Olive]

And by the way, BRP stands for Basic RolePlaying, which is Chaosium's name for their percentile based system. Its a very simple and efficient system that gets the job done, and doesn't onstruct the horror roleplaying experience with rules and minutiae (which is one of my biggest gripes with d20 CoC).

I reallt enoy both d20 and BRP CoC, and I'm always interested in hearing why people don't like the d20 version. I find it easier to get players to play d20 games cos they know the rules already, so I'd need to be convinced that the d20 system doesn't do just as good a job (and in my experience it does). So, expand please!

 

[Thanee]

I only got the new german CoC, which came out prior to 6th ed., but also changed something (and as written in the book, it looks like those changes could be the same they did with 6th ed.).

The changes are not too big, no major change to the way the system works, for example. The game still plays the same.

And yes, it's far superior to the D20 CoC (IMHO) in terms of flavor.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Numion]

I reallt enoy both d20 and BRP CoC, and I'm always interested in hearing why people don't like the d20 version. I find it easier to get players to play d20 games cos they know the rules already, so I'd need to be convinced that the d20 system doesn't do just as good a job (and in my experience it does). So, expand please!

I own both d20 and BRP versions, and I don't see what the fuss is about. Both are good games, and a lot of the anti-d20 sentiment seems to be just because. I guess people didn't want to see their game converted, with all the emotional investment.

The reality is that d20 Cthulhu is a very good job with better production values than the original. d02 hatters should find a more appropriate d20 conversion to hate, because Cthulhu d20 is a good one.

Irony of the situation is that both BRP and d20 have their roots in fantasy RPGs .. which is the foundation of the complaints against d20 version from the BRP camp.

 

[Thanee]

I reallt enoy both d20 and BRP CoC, and I'm always interested in hearing why people don't like the d20 version. I find it easier to get players to play d20 games cos they know the rules already, so I'd need to be convinced that the d20 system doesn't do just as good a job (and in my experience it does). So, expand please!

Well, my "problem" with D20 CoC is, that it's not as realistic mostly.

Hit points, which grow continuously while you advance through levels.
The whole level concept... starting out with almost no knowledge and ability and then double, triple, quadruple your abilities over time.

BRP works in a much more realistic way. Your ability to shrug off gun shots (yes I know about the massive damage threshold in D20 CoC) doesn't really increase over time and you start out with a good knowledge/skill base, even some high values, if you like, and have a much slower gain (altho not too slow to have no noticeable change in ability over time).

BRP characters are more like the scholarly, lovecraftian type, while D20 characters are heroic, just like in D&D (not exactly, of course, but similar).

There are also some problems with the BRP system (especially the randomness of character attributes, if you follow the standard creation rules), of course, but those can easily be changed to fit, unlike the whole system D20 is built upon, which cannot be swapped out as easily.

D20 CoC might be very well-suited for "The Mummy" style horror, but Call of Cthulhu requires a more realistic setup than that, in my opinion.

Oh, and just for the record, I totally not hate D20, I just think it's inappropriate for the style of gaming I'm looking for with Call of Cthulhu.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Olfactatron]

I reallt enoy both d20 and BRP CoC, and I'm always interested in hearing why people don't like the d20 version. I find it easier to get players to play d20 games cos they know the rules already, so I'd need to be convinced that the d20 system doesn't do just as good a job (and in my experience it does). So, expand please!

As a long time CoC and D&D3.x GM, there are some things that I believe the BRP does a little better. I like the Luck, Knowledge and Idea mechanics, they're great catch-alls. I like that you can have a character experienced in combat starting out. Which, due to the BAB mechanic is simply not possible unless you start out as a higher than level one character. I feel that the advancement doesn't quite fit, when I think of levels I instantly think of 'high' fantasy role-playing, because levels, to me, are an inherently unrealistic advancement method. And anything that detracts from the realism makes the game less frightening. Another thing I don't like about the d20 advancement for CoC is that, in CoC the PCs basically either end up dead or insane, and the leveling method seems to dangle carrots that aren't really there. I'd be really interested in hearing about anyone's experiences with a high level (16-20) d20 CoC game.

 

[Olive]

Well, my "problem" with D20 CoC is, that it's not as realistic mostly.

We've already had this debate in another thread, and I think that your objections are bizarre, as I said there.

Again, all oft he objections I keep hearing seem to be down to DM style and preconceptions about how d20 games have to work. Anyway, I don't want to debate this all over, I was mostly interesting in hearing Gothmog's perspective...