The Call of Cthulhu (First Look at Old Classic)

Chaosium Inc has recently released their 7th edition of their groundbreaking horror role-playing game the Call of Cthulhu.  Based on the shared horror universe of H.P. Lovecraft and his contemporaries, the Call of Cthulhu is a game of sinister cults, secrets man wasn’t meant to know, and the existence of entities so powerful and so dangerous that the idea of their existence drives mere mortals to madness.  It’s a dark and sinister world full of questions you shouldn’t ask to people you shouldn’t see.  Let’s take a closer look at the newest edition of Call of Cthulhu

The Call of Cthulhu is a dark horror role-playing game set in mostly modern settings.  Players take on the role of investigators who’ve decided to take on the lingering threats posed by the Great Old Ones and other ruinous beings.  What separates these intrepid heroes from the protagonists of other games is that these aren’t powerful warriors or mighty wizards.  This is Dave who works at the 7-11 and his buddy Greg who reads too many books on scary things.

This universe takes the view (from the source material) that humans are insignificant creatures in the cosmic view of the multiverse.  With a similar consideration that humans show ants, The Powers that move through the universe of Call of Cthulhu barely recognize the existence of human beings.  Even more dangerous, the scope and scale of these entities is vast, so deep that humans who even catch a glimpse of these ancient horrors are driven mad by the encounter.  

Players should take great care when they interact with the world of Cthulhu, as the monsters, the dark cults, the sinister books they use to cast dark sorcery all drain a new statistic, Sanity.  As sanity dwindles, more and more of the darkness filters through and characters find themselves unable to determine the difference between the real monsters and the ones that are only in their head.  

For us, this was such a novel idea when we found CoC.  It was one of the first games where you could a character that could pass as a version of you.  No magical powers or superhuman resilience will save you from the monsters.  You’re going to have to decide just what you’re willing to sacrifice to save the world, and how clever you’re going to be to get past the darkness.  We’ll feature this game a lot more heavily in October (We’re suckers for cliche), but we think you’d find a lot of high quality, pants pooping fun in the Call of Cthulhu.  

You can find Chaosium, inc at http://Chaosium.com

Game on, Game Fans