Favourite Games - Call of Cthulhu
This is the third installment of my ‘unordered’ Top 5 RPGs (for the previous entries see here and here).
Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium)
Until about a year or so ago, I would have said the Call of Cthulhu (CoC) was my favourite roleplaying game of all time. It has been the system used in two or three of my best playing and GMing experiences, and I’ve read and research more into the settings (and various authors) than any other. However, a few things have recently turned me off the game - if only a little. I won’t go into detail, but suffice to say it has only recently cycled back into my Top 5.
As with Stormbringer, Call of Cthulhu has a strong literary base, that being the works of H.P. Lovecraft and the contemporary circle of writer (and, of course, all those who came afterwards), and I actually read these novels and short stories before I ever played Cthulhu. While this does mean that there is a defined paradigm within the game and its system (lone investigator being driven mad by expose to the ‘Mythos’), there has also been a strong history of ‘borrowing’ and ‘rejecting’ aspects of the background when it best suits the needs of the author - something more settings should do.
As I said, I’ve run and played in many CoC games, and have either GMed or been part of every single major campaign published - which is quite a few when you think that the game has been around almost 30 years! Some of favourites are Tatters of the King (which is definitely a new type of campaign), Beyond the Mountains of Madness (not only because I became good friend with the authors - one of whom I hope will crash at our place when he and his wife come down this way - Yes, you Chad, you're on notice :P), and the epic Masks of Narle Nyarlo Nyarlathotep!
Sure the system is dated and it is pretty empty of innovation (even the Sanity mechanic is a bit stale these days), but it is a flexible set of rules and are so low key that they never get the way of the action. This I think is one of the keys. You can do anything in CoC with a few changes to the skill list and a couple of different weapons, and that opens it up to players of all interests. It also helps that over more recent years it has stepped away from always being about plots related to the Mythos, and now almost any type of horror style you want to name can be replicated by the system. Always a positive!
But the thing that really stands about the game is its community. While Chaosium hasn’t always been the best at communicating with its fans (at least since the financial meltdowns of the mid-90s), forums like Yog-sothoth.com have arisen to become the centre of this theme within our hobby. Run by the dedicated Paul Mclean, one can’t say enough about how much Yog-sothoth.com does to keep the spirit of CoC alive - and all a substantial financial cost (as is my understanding).
So to sum up - love CoC and its people, and although Chaosium lacks in support IMO, many other licensees have step up to fill the void!
Next up - Gumshoe. I know, not really a game, more of a system, but it has been my go-to game in the last year or so…
Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium)
Until about a year or so ago, I would have said the Call of Cthulhu (CoC) was my favourite roleplaying game of all time. It has been the system used in two or three of my best playing and GMing experiences, and I’ve read and research more into the settings (and various authors) than any other. However, a few things have recently turned me off the game - if only a little. I won’t go into detail, but suffice to say it has only recently cycled back into my Top 5.
As with Stormbringer, Call of Cthulhu has a strong literary base, that being the works of H.P. Lovecraft and the contemporary circle of writer (and, of course, all those who came afterwards), and I actually read these novels and short stories before I ever played Cthulhu. While this does mean that there is a defined paradigm within the game and its system (lone investigator being driven mad by expose to the ‘Mythos’), there has also been a strong history of ‘borrowing’ and ‘rejecting’ aspects of the background when it best suits the needs of the author - something more settings should do.
As I said, I’ve run and played in many CoC games, and have either GMed or been part of every single major campaign published - which is quite a few when you think that the game has been around almost 30 years! Some of favourites are Tatters of the King (which is definitely a new type of campaign), Beyond the Mountains of Madness (not only because I became good friend with the authors - one of whom I hope will crash at our place when he and his wife come down this way - Yes, you Chad, you're on notice :P), and the epic Masks of Narle Nyarlo Nyarlathotep!
Sure the system is dated and it is pretty empty of innovation (even the Sanity mechanic is a bit stale these days), but it is a flexible set of rules and are so low key that they never get the way of the action. This I think is one of the keys. You can do anything in CoC with a few changes to the skill list and a couple of different weapons, and that opens it up to players of all interests. It also helps that over more recent years it has stepped away from always being about plots related to the Mythos, and now almost any type of horror style you want to name can be replicated by the system. Always a positive!
But the thing that really stands about the game is its community. While Chaosium hasn’t always been the best at communicating with its fans (at least since the financial meltdowns of the mid-90s), forums like Yog-sothoth.com have arisen to become the centre of this theme within our hobby. Run by the dedicated Paul Mclean, one can’t say enough about how much Yog-sothoth.com does to keep the spirit of CoC alive - and all a substantial financial cost (as is my understanding).
So to sum up - love CoC and its people, and although Chaosium lacks in support IMO, many other licensees have step up to fill the void!
Next up - Gumshoe. I know, not really a game, more of a system, but it has been my go-to game in the last year or so…