[CoC] What is it, exactly?

[Lola]

I've been extremely intrigued by the Call of Cthulhu references I've been running into. Can someone explain the story and gameplay in simple terms for me? And what's this about Wotc vs. Chaosium?


Duuuuuhhhh... after posting this, I thought "Betcha a nickel that I'm in the wrong forum section" And so I am. Can I get a free ride to the right one?

 

[Sam]

It's a horror setting. Based in large part on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft (and others that contributed to the Lovecraft "Mythos"). Very fun. Dark and psychological. More role-playing oriented than combat oriented.

The Chaosium vs. WotC thing is that there are two versions out. The Chaosium version uses the Basic RolePlaying system (a different system that I'm not really familar with), while the WotC version uses a d20 system. The d20 system is what we play, and enjoy it alot. You can find a bunch of stuff for the Choasium system, and most of the newer stuff is dual-statted. Fantasy Flight Games has a great campaign book for the d20 system called Nocturnum (I'm using it in my CoCd20 campaign).

So, if you don't mind learning a new system and aren't all that fond of d20, check out the BRP system. If you don't want to learn a new rule-set, pick up the WotC verison. Either way, it's a great game.

Oh, and make sure you read some Lovecraft! There's a bunch of stuff available free on the net (it's public domain now) and there's a couple of great anthologies available at bookstores.

 

[Gellion]

http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/sources/dh.htm

That is a good site to check out, there are some links to stories below.

 

[Wormwood]

CoC: The hands-down greatest RPG of all time.

Ever.

The d20 version is okay, but I'll stick with the BRP I was weaned on (simple, fast play---perfect for the setting).

 

[WayneLigon]

WoTC vs. Chaosium:

Call of Cthulhu is a game originally (and still) published by Chaosium, using their Basic Role Playing system (still available from Chaosium for about $6.00). Some modifications have been made over the past 20 years, but most of those were minor fixes or clarifications. Currently in it's 5th edition, the CoC rules are complete in one book.

There are no classes, but rather occupations that have certain grouped skills in them. Occupation also determines your income. Your skill points are determined by your stats. All skills are percentage based; you might have Shotgun at 50%, Speak Latin at 20% and Sneak at 15%.

WoTC did the d20 version, and a nice conversion it is, too.

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Call of Cthulhu deals with investigators - mostly normal people from everyday walks of life - that become emmeshed in something terribly and horribly alien. They may seek out these mysteries for many reasons, but usually once 'exposed' to the Mythos, one rarely has any sense of peace of mind, ever again.

Draws from the themes of Lovecraft's fiction: alieness, the fear of the outsider, the helplessness of Man vs. a cruel and uncaring Universe.

Mostly, investigators encounter occult mysteries based around one or more cults, monsters or - rarely - the great powers themselves: the 'Gods' of the Mythos. The Gods are really alien beings so vastly intelligent and powerful that we are as nothing to them.

 

[BluWolf]

CoC is one of those things in my experience that was always better in concept than in reality. It is very cool and a very well done derivative work as whole but just never really played all that well as a campaign world.

It was cool as a campaign breaker or a one off session but it just really seemed to turn into a broken record after awhile.

Most of the people I have encountered running CoC exstensively were GMs who liked to F with their players to no end.

I mainly use the "mythos" as idea fodder and mood setting stuff.

 

[Olive]

It was cool as a campaign breaker or a one off session but it just really seemed to turn into a broken record after awhile.

Just as Lovecraft's best works are short stories, with little to no connection with other of his works, the best CoC games are one offs. And what great one offs they can be!

 

[Duncan Haldane]

I just wanted to point out that although WotC wrote the D20 version of CoC, they did it for Chaosium.

And I believe that most new CoC products from Chaosium are dual-statted.

Duncan

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I played in a CoCd20 campaign from October 2002 until June of this year. I played the BRP version way back when. Both versions have a lot going for them. I prefer the d20 version, because the characters seem more capable than their BRP counterparts. I say seem, because it turns out that this simply makes the players a bit more confident of their abilities, which makes the realization that they're actually totally helpless all the more dramatic

I like Lovecraft's writing style a lot. It may not be to the taste of modern readers used to more contemporary horror writers. Lovecraft really evokes dread and madness like no one else. His stuff is more about mood than plot, and often reads very much like transcripts to nightmares.

 

[Wombat]

The one problem I have with CoC, both in its BRP and D20 format, is that it is not terribly Lovecraftian.

Oh sure, you have Big C, you have Nyarlathotep, and all the rest, but you have a group of people (rather than the more common Lovecraftian situation of a lone individual) and your party actually learns more about the deeper mysteries of reality and then wants to aid humanity by stopping these beings, unlike the standard Lovecraftian "hero" who goes insane and realizes that there is little or nothing humanity can EVER do to them.

I have played the game. I have run the game. In the end, I would want to strip out all the direct Cthulhu references and call it something else, because ultimately it is not terribly Lovecraftian.