Question Regarding Call of Cthulhu Editions

[Scottius]

On a recent shopping excursion I was fortunate enough to find a used copy of the Call of Cthulhu corebook in good condition. I've played in several campaigns previously but had never actually bought the book as I'd not been the one running it. I picked it up with an eye towards using it to run my gaming groups annual Halloween session.

My question is, how much difference is there between the various editions? The copy I picked up is a 6th edition core book and most of the supplements I've been looking at online are 7th edition. Is it easy to use those books between editions or would I be better off considering going ahead and snagging a copy of the 7th Edition corebook if I want to use the supplements?

Also, any general tips from those with more experience with this game would be appreciated. I feel I've got a pretty good handle on it since I've read the majority of Lovecraft's work and have played quite a bit of the game but this would be my first time GMing a session.

 

[Michael Dean]

There are some differences that are significant; characteristics are percentiles in 7th, for example, and use of bonus or penalty dice like advantage and disadvantage in DnD 5e. It's easy enough to convert. But overall, the reason I'd recommend 7th is that it's in a beautiful format and laid out so well that it makes using it a real joy.

 

[Jhaelen]

I think 7th edition may be the first new edition that introduces a few "significant" changes.
Compared to D&D, however, these changes are still trivial and it should be rather easy to modify supplements to work with other editions.

 

[ShadowAssassin]

All the older supplements you'll find via auction sites, used bookstores etc will work with 6e. Only new stuff is actually designed for 7e as part of the licence requirements. If you can divide by 5 you can run the new scenarios with 6e (basically STR, CON etc are the older stats x5. All the skills are the same or very similar (slight name changes over the various editions). The new Luck mechanism allows for spending it to change certain dice rolls and Pushing a roll allows a second chance if the PC can justify it by a different approach to the problem. So smallish changes really, but the new material is much better presented with full colour illustrations and a nicer overall look.

 

[Imaculata]

I'm using the Call of Cthulhu edition that still follows 3.5 rules. It is completely compatible with third edition, they merely introduced a new sanity mechanic. So yeah, I'd say thats a pretty significant difference. With later editions the game became its own thing, with its own rules.

 

[Adam Crossingham]

My question is, how much difference is there between the various editions? The copy I picked up is a 6th edition core book and most of the supplements I've been looking at online are 7th edition. Is it easy to use those books between editions or would I be better off considering going ahead and snagging a copy of the 7th Edition corebook if I want to use the supplements?

The three main CoC variants are 1e, 2e-6e and 7e.

1e is notable for its life path char gen. 2e-6e differ mainly in skill names, starting percentages, implementation of shotgun damage, and the continued rewriting of spells to become less icky.

The other differences are the graphic presentation. The GW-version 3e is well regarded, and 5e is my personal favourite having Chaosium's strong early 1990s design.

The conversion between 6e and 7e has already been covered and its easy enough to do on the fly. My advice, don't worry about it.

If you are on a budget I would advise sticking with 6e - all pre-7e scenarios and sourcebooks are compatible with it. There are years-worth of material already published before worrying about 7e material. And there hasn't been a lot of unique 7e material released yet either.

 

[Scottius]

The three main CoC variants are 1e, 2e-6e and 7e.

1e is notable for its life path char gen. 2e-6e differ mainly in skill names, starting percentages, implementation of shotgun damage, and the continued rewriting of spells to become less icky.

The other differences are the graphic presentation. The GW-version 3e is well regarded, and 5e is my personal favourite having Chaosium's strong early 1990s design.

The conversion between 6e and 7e has already been covered and its easy enough to do on the fly. My advice, don't worry about it.

If you are on a budget I would advise sticking with 6e - all pre-7e scenarios and sourcebooks are compatible with it. There are years-worth of material already published before worrying about 7e material. And there hasn't been a lot of unique 7e material released yet either.

Thanks for the all feedback so far everyone!

So the two books in particular I was looking at getting in addition to the corebook are the Mansions Of Madness & the 1920s Investigator's Companion as I've heard that the first has some good 1-2 session adventures in it and the second is a handy reference book for the players. Are the latest versions of these two books 7th edition or pre-7th edition? It sounds like it shouldn't be too hard to convert either way if needed but I'd like to know. I checked the Amazon entries for both books but they don't really mention edition at all.

 

[Adam Crossingham]

So the two books in particular I was looking at getting in addition to the corebook are the Mansions Of Madness & the 1920s Investigator's Companion as I've heard that the first has some good 1-2 session adventures in it and the second is a handy reference book for the players. Are the latest versions of these two books 7th edition or pre-7th edition?

Mansions of Madness is a solid collection of scenarios for 2e-6e rules. Some of them are for experienced investigators however. Actually to be fair, most CoC scenarios are for experienced investigators. Only until recently were scenarios specifically for new investigators published.
1920s Investigator's Companion is for 5e-6e. Loads of extra occupations, gear, etc.

 

[Morrus]

I'm using the Call of Cthulhu edition that still follows 3.5 rules. It is completely compatible with third edition, they merely introduced a new sanity mechanic. So yeah, I'd say thats a pretty significant difference. With later editions the game became its own thing, with its own rules.

I guess you're joking. Please tell us you know Call of Cthulhu predates D&D 3.5 by 20 years...

 

[Imaculata]

I guess you're joking. Please tell us you know Call of Cthulhu predates D&D 3.5 by 20 years...

D20 Call of Cthulhu.