About
Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition
$561,836
3,668
Steadfast artist Alberto this morning sent something really cool. Charlie took Alberto's new border and crafted the following study for the leatherette-covered book. You apparently like the look. Then, the upper for the KEEPER'S RULEBOOK and the lower for the INVESTIGATOR HANDBOOK?
Shards of Courage
Jenny lay on the floor whimpering meekly, entirely at the mercy of old, leathery Walter Corbitt. To help save her friend and colleague, she had tried to kill the old man -- and she had delivered a gruesome blow, to no avail. Visions of the blow replay in her mind, but Corbitt's yellow gaze continues to mock. She can't bear to watch her own demise.
But Corbitt has no mercy, only hunger and malice -- and the enveloping aroma of her essential liquid. Her blood will make him strong. Savoring the moment, hoary Walter Corbitt stoops low to the shuddering Jenny -- then a sharp stab of ice-cold terror rips his shoulder. No, it cannot be!
With a roar of manic fury Harvey, who stitched together the shards of courage left to him, unsheathed the ancient ornate knife from his left hand and with the other drives the blade deep into old Corbitt. Those long years suddenly take their toll and Corbitt cries out for the last time, crumbling to the floor in disgusting chunks and pieces.
Harvey kicks at the remains. “By his own weapon is the devil worsted!”
LATER…
Laying flowers at the foot of the hospital bed, Harvey takes a seat. Jenny is recuperating. Her recovery had not gone well; her wounds had festered and needed several operations. Harvey watched her sleep. His own physical wounds were bandaged, though his left hand would never again function properly. His mind would take longer to mend.
He wondered if he should tell Jenny of the papers he found in Corbitt’s hidden lair. What was the Chapel of Contemplation and why did the police carry out a raid on the place some ten years ago? Perhaps Corbitt’s demise is not the end of the story, but just the surface layer of a deeper plot?
Welcome to the new edition of Call of Cthulhu.
(...earlier installments can be found at the bottom of this page)
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The following graphics describe CALL OF CTHULHU as reflected by this project, and the benefits and differences of two of our main Pledge Levels.
Kickstarter-Exclusive Bindings!
We have been working with our printers to offer you great-looking books. The Temple Edition is the best binding we could find. We figured that we will have only so many opportunities (uh, one) to offer such fine quality.
Stretch Goals!
Wow. We knew that Chaosium and Call of Cthulhu had fans, but the response to the project has been tremendous. We are already at work, with your help, to improve the books, as you can see by the goals achieved, below.
Add-Ons
Use add-ons to pick up extra copies of dice, the Keeper Screen, and to access some special benefits only available while this project is live.
Level Clarification
For the ABOMINABLE ABHOTH, HIDEOUS HASTUR, and NICTITATING NYARLATHOTEP levels, the books will be faux-Byakhee (leatherette). They will be similar to the anniversary editions of Call of Cthulhu.
CALL OF CTHULHU
7th Edition
Horror Roleplaying in the Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft.
By Sandy Petersen with Mike Mason, Paul Fricker, and Lynn Willis.
The Great Old Ones ruled the earth aeons before the rise of humankind. Originally they came from the gulfs of space and were cast down by even greater beings. Remains of their cyclopean cities and forbidden knowledge can still be found on remote islands in the Pacific, buried amid the shifting sands of vast deserts, and in the frigid recesses of the polar extremes. Now they sleep -- some deep within the enveloping earth and others beneath the eternal sea, in the drowned city of R'lyeh, preserved in the waters by the spells of mighty Cthulhu. When the stars are right they will rise, and once again walk this Earth.
CALL OF CTHULHU is Chaosium’s classic roleplaying game of Lovecraftian horror, in which ordinary people are confronted by the terrifying and alien forces of the Cthulhu Mythos. CALL OF CTHULHU uses Chaosium’s Basic Roleplaying System, easy to learn and quick to play. This bestseller has won dozens of game-industry awards, is a member of the Academy of Adventure Game Design Hall of Fame, and was voted the #1 Gothic/Horror RPG of all time by the GamingReport.com community. CALL OF CTHULHU is supported by a growing line of high quality supplements.
This Kickstarter project aims to build a new edition of this classic horror game and expand its award-winning tradition.
THE NEW EDITION
As currently envisioned, the CALL OF CTHULHU KEEPER'S RULEBOOK is a new edition of the CALL OF CTHULHU rules incorporating new options, an improved flow of combat, new scenarios, and a cleaner page layout with box and page decoration evocative of the primary period of play in the 1920s. Here are eighteen chapters including H.P. Lovecraft and the Mythos, Creating Investigators, Skills, Game System, Combat, Chases, Sanity, Magic, For Keepers, Tomes of Eldritch Lore (with over 100 tomes), Grimoire (with over 100 spells), Artifacts & Alien Devices, Monsters, Beasts & Alien Gods, three scenarios, plus a reference chapter containing Lovecraft Country, Historic Timelines, Mythos History of Earth, Sanity Quiz, Play Aids, and more. The "Skills" chapter contains full descriptions for each skill, including guidance on opposed skills, setting difficulty levels, examples of how to "push" the different types of skills, and suggested consequences for failing a pushed skill roll. The "Chases" chapter provides rules for all types of chases, whether on foot, driving a car or boat, flying airplanes, or being pursued by monsters.
We also wanted to address the players directly, and simultaneously we will also release the INVESTIGATOR HANDBOOK, intended for all players, which includes ten chapters expanding Creating Investigators with optional background packages, more than a hundred Occupations, Skills, Investigator Organizations (nine separate organizations described - The 'Wipers' Pals, Wrath's Circus of Wonders, Strange but True!, The South 13th, SKT Research, Novem Angelus, Ratched's Children, The Resurrectionists, The Society for the Exploration of the Unexplained), Life as an Investigator, The Roaring Twenties, Advice for Players, plus a references chapter. "Life as an Investigator" takes a look at investigative procedures and equipment, and also provides examples taken from the files of the Theron Marks Society.
When Will It Come Out?
We want to have these books in your hands by Halloween (October 31) of 2013.
The rule book has been fully revised and carefully restructured to bring you the rules in the most user-friendly way. Call of Cthulhu is a well established game with a wealth of supporting scenarios, campaigns and source books. It's important to note that the 7th Edition rules remain backwards compatible so that previously published scenarios and source books all remain playable with the revised rules. We’ve gone to great lengths to revise the rules in a way that retains the essence of what makes Call of Cthulhu such a great game.
Here's an overview on some of the revisions that will be found in Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition...
Creating your Investigator
There are lots of great options for creating investigators, along with advice on integrating your investigator with the story. It also provides you with support and tools for generating an investigator’s backstory, enabling players to create fully rounded characters with a reason to investigate the Cthulhu Mythos.
Skill rolls
Not everything is so easy for the investigators -- if they attempt an especially difficult task the new rules introduce the ‘hard’ and ‘extreme’ skill rolls. Revised skill descriptions and new skills like Intimidate and Charm have been added to provide investigators with more ways to investigate and uncover the secrets of the Mythos.
Opposed rolls
No need to refer to charts -- everything you need is right there on the character sheet!
Pushing skill rolls
Sometimes your investigator fails a task. With the new rules, if you want to try a second time you can -- if you can justify it! But beware -- failing a second ‘pushed’ roll will have dire consequences -- opening the door for the Keeper to take the story in all sorts of new, exciting and sometimes unexpected directions.
Lots of Advice for Players and Keepers
The new rules have been written with a mind to helping all players get the most of Call of Cthulhu. Particularly, a special advice chapter for Keepers on how to construct a scenario, how to build tension and horror, and how to develop the story and engage your players. Whether you are new to the game or have been playing a while, there’s information and tips for everyone .
Toolkit
Over the decades many gaming groups have developed their own style of Call of Cthulhu play, and 7th Edition provides you with options, tools and advice on how to tailor the game in a way that will suit you and your group. Whether you like things more pulpy or gritty, there’s optional rules to build and scale the game you want.
Missed a clue? No worries!
Ever had your players get stuck because they don’t know what to do next? The new rules provide a mechanism for handling such tricky situations; a revision of the Idea Roll rule. Now you can throw tricky investigations at your players and not have to worry if they pick up every clue or not. The new Idea Roll helps to keep your game on track without unnecessary railroading of the players.
Sanity
The sanity track remains, however the Keeper is provided with new guidance on how to deal with episodes of insanity, including phobias, manias and delusions. Plus the Keeper is provided with advice on how to tamper with the investigator’s backstory -- potentially corrupting their relationships, their possessions and other important aspects of their life as they sink further and further in to the cosmic abyss of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Combat
Sometimes your investigator will have to rely on his or her fists! All unarmed attacks now come under the one skill of Brawl, allowing you to describe your attacks as befits the situation. Weapons and firearms retain their own skill categories. Combat now works with opposed rolls, allowing you to resolve combat scenes faster than ever before and avoid drawn-out "miss - miss" situations, whilst giving players more options on the things they can do during a fight. Fast paced and exciting combat!
Combat maneuvers replace the old grapple rules. Now you just describe what you want to do and roll versus your opponent -- allowing greater freedom to create exciting fight scenes. Your investigator can do more during combat than just fight or flee!
Chases
An entirely new chase system that allows you to combine vehicles, monsters and pedestrians in exciting chase scenes. Remember the chase scene in Lovecraft's 'The Shadow Over Innsmouth' wherein the protagonist, Robert Olmstead, flees the Gilman House hotel via a window and is pursued across Innsmouth by deep ones? These new rules enable you to stage exciting chases like that in your game.
Monsters
You’ll find a host of old favourites here, along with a few new faces, as well as insightful marginalia providing details, notes and ideas on many of the monsters and gods therein.
Spells and Tomes
7th Edition provides revised rules for how to handle magic in your game and also revisits tome reading times, as well as providing advice and ideas on how to use tomes in your scenarios and games. If your investigator has never cast a spell before you may find you get more than you bargained for! Likewise, insane ancient Mythos wizards and monsters have access to deeper realms of magic and a range of spells have suggested effects for just this type of insane casting.
New scenarios
"The Haunting" -- the old faithful scenario is back, with added, step by step Keeper’s advice for new players. Plus two new scenarios: "Amidst the Ancient Trees" and "Crimson Letters", designed for both new and veteran Keepers. "Crimson Letters", set in witch-haunted Arkham, provides the ideal starting point for a campaign.
Anything else? The entire rulebook has been revised, edited and will be presented in a brand new layout with loads of cool new artwork.
Call of Cthulhu was originally written by Sandy Petersen. Paul Fricker and Michael Mason have written, revised, and developed the new edition, in addition to developing the book's structure and adding new content throughout.
Badger McInnes will perform the primary layout for the 7th Edition books. He worked on the award-winning Cthulhu by Gaslight 3rd edition and numerous books for Chaosium and other publishers.
Paul Carrick, the artist who created the award-winning cover for the Chaosium publication Cthulhu by Gaslight, will be creating new art for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition. Stefano Marinetti and Alberto Bontempi have created art for Call of Cthulhu and for this Kickstarter page, and will create more.
Steff Worthington is already working away on maps, plans, and diagrams.
The Story So Far...
(read from the bottom to the top)
Risks and challenges
The biggest challenge we face as a publisher is making sure that deadlines are met. Because we work with many artists, editors, and printers, and because we are a small company, there are bound to be hiccups along the way. Oftentimes these arise because we discover that it would be super-awesome to add in an extra image, to create an extra add-on, or add an additional bit of text that will push the project over the deadline but will also result in a much better product.
Learn about accountability on KickstarterSupport
Funding period
- (31 days)