Created in 1981 by Sandy Petersen, Call of Cthulhu rapidly established itself as the primary alternative to traditional roleplaying games inspired by the Dungeons & Dragons universe. Entirely embracing the supernatural and tortured setting of Lovecraftian fiction (the game even takes its title from one of Lovecraft's famous short stories), Call of Cthulhu quickly became a classic among tabletop RPGs. It was so successful that it also spawned numerous board games, the most famous being Arkham Horror. Many other adaptations have since emerged, from the immersive Mansions of Madness to the action-packed Cthulhu: Death May Die.
Discover or rediscover H.P. Lovecraft's terrifying universe through the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game.
Plunge into H.P. Lovecraft's Terrifying Universe
Call of Cthulhu RPGs fully capture the Lovecraftian setting—a horror universe rooted in the 1920s and 1930s where adventure blends with investigation and dread, delivering an intense journey into the heart of madness. The recurring themes of Lovecraft's work are insanity, fear of the unknown, the investigation of occult mysteries, and the indifference of a cosmos completely beyond human control. In Lovecraft's world, the pursuit of knowledge inevitably leads to mental destruction. His work is haunted by entities lost in a cosmos as vast as it is indifferent, where all forms of rationality are shattered.
Roleplaying games based on Lovecraft's lore place a strong emphasis on secrets, mysteries, and horror, incorporating all the major themes of H.P. Lovecraft's stories. In the game, you portray investigators traveling through strange and perilous sites to face the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos. Along the way, you will encounter terrifying entities that you must confront without losing your mind. Should you survive, you will uncover secrets that humanity was never meant to know.
Call of Cthulhu, the Cult Lovecraftian RPG
When Call of Cthulhu was released in 1981 in the United States, the tabletop RPG landscape was still dominated by game mechanics inherited from Dungeons & Dragons—complex rules focused primarily on leveling up character stats over long campaigns.
From its very first edition, Call of Cthulhu took the opposite approach to these traditional mechanics by offering streamlined rules centered around captivating plots, making investigation the absolute core of the gaming experience.
The game's signature feature relies on the Sanity management system of your player characters. Uncovering horrifying truths triggers dice rolls to determine how many Sanity points your characters lose. This rule aims to instill genuine fear in the players, as their character can descend into madness at any moment. This aligns the horror themes of the Lovecraftian setting directly with the psychological consequences of the situations players face.
The 7th Edition of the Cthulhu RPG retains all the key ingredients that made the formula successful for over 30 years, while introducing several key innovations to enhance the player experience:
- Overhauled characteristic system: character attributes are now measured on a 1-100 scale (compared to a 3-18 scale in previous editions), matching skill values directly. Attribute checks are simplified, functioning identically to skill checks.
- Introduction of success levels for dice rolls: a dice roll can yield several results (Regular, Hard, or Extreme success) based on the percentage achieved relative to the skill value. This adds greater depth to in-game actions.
- Introduction of the Luck points system: players can now spend Luck points (if they have enough) to adjust a dice roll right after throwing it. This provides greater tactical flexibility while giving players a new resource to manage.
- Enhanced Sanity management system: Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition brings greater subtlety to the Sanity system by introducing clear distinctions between temporary and indefinite insanity, featuring reaction phases of variable duration. Players can experience successive bouts of madness depending on the severity of SAN loss, creating more varied and immersive psychological consequences.
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