speaking as a person who has actually played his fair share of call of cthulhu, in both my played and published adventures, (1) there is combat; (2) I expect survivors; and (3) they are not always lovecraftian. Clearly I'm doing it wrong.
@@jamescole4317 Seth and me are buddies now. Before the 'Rona hit, he was playtesting my games with me weekly. He hasn't run a CoC game for me yet though. I may not be up to his normal standard of player however.
Semi new CoC player here thanks for your work I been writing CoC games in the RPC universe and some SCP for my group and they always love them, but I've had fun so I just bought my first campaign book of two headed serpent excited to play an official campaign in it see how this play style goes with the official material. Our best playing experience so far was the one written around scp 354 made for a spooky setting and mystery ths seems amazing though
The military reports of Audie Murphy shrugging off tank rounds were classified. So were the reports of his ability to fly and catching artillery projectiles in his teeth. The Army felt it necessary to retain the element of surprise when deploying The Murph against axis powers.
Thank you Seth, I dropped Cthulhu a lot of years ago because of the "it's only investigation, all pg must die by the end of the adventure" stereotype, but thanks to this series I picked it up again and I'm having a great time DM'ing it in a pulp-ier style.
The myth of characters dying in every session, was exactly what I heard, when I first learned about CoC. And - seemengly exactly like you - it threw me off. I started to GM Cthulhu just recently (... sometime last fall) and it is a gorgeous system. The art, the playstyle. And - everything, including the mortality, is up to the style you play it. Do you want horror-oneshots, with premade characters, to have this amazing feeling of being really on the edge the whole time, knowing every step might be the last, just to have to sacrifice yourself in the end? Ok. Go for it. Have fun. (I might even do things like this on conventions...) Or do you want to play like The Mummy (I talk about the 1999 movie with Brandon Fraser / Rachel Weisz), pulp 20' with chases, barfights, cobwebbed tombs and unspeakable horrors - without sacrificing humor? You can do that as well. And everything in between or around this.
Robert Nett In our group we found our selfs going after mobsters and cultists, going in to a very adventure play style. Check out the adventure game the white wolf one, not the D20 one, although I have heard that there was a new version coming out.
i love the combat system. i even invented a similar combat system where every time a character is attacked they have the opportunity to defend because the concept of i whack you in the face with a club and then you whack me in the face with a club just seems stupid.. with this system its actually dynamic with blocks and interaction..
@@thothheartmaat2833 As I said in another comment - the combat system is - in my opinion - a tad too deadly. Normally combat systems err on the side of making characters stronger than, say regular real humans. Which is fine but may defeat the idea of horror. However the CoC combat system drags it to the other extreme, which is also fine and represents the horror very well. My only minor problem is this 'more damage than HP means instant death'. Which just isn't true at all. If you look which kind of punishment people have survived in the past to a complete recovery is amazing. Thus I have one slight addition: "If you take more damage than HP - make a luck roll. If you succeed HP goes to zero, injury box is checked and the clock for your demise is ticking, if you fail, you are basically fertiliser." Keeps players on their toes, creates dramatic situations with last-moment rescues that still can fail and it makes using Luck for other purposes a real gamble. All in all more fun without complicated changes. Oh and the idea of defending against each incoming attack makes combat more dynamic - but it will probably increase combat-time. You might look into the core rules of 'The Dark Eye' - which has a combat system surrounding attack/parry combinations. Played it a long time myself, really like it - but combat can go on for ages if you have high-level characters with high defense-stats. Nothing wrong with the idea per say - just saying that you might run into this kind of problem later on.
I always disregarded CoC for these exact myths. But when I stopped playing D&D, I spent years thinking about and trying to design a pulp adventure game set in the 1930s with no idea that I was basically recreating CoC with a pulp bent. Since seeing your videos, I realize Pulp Cthulhu is the game I always wanted to play.
19:30 Just 2 years? Count your blessings. I stayed away from CoC for over two decades because I was told these myths and never could imagine running a game where I basically had to kill and drive my player characters insane. I always enjoyed campaigns and long lasting storytelling way too much. And I truly believe that you need a few sessions to bond with your character. So CoC always seemed like a cool setting but a huge waste of time... and a source for loads and loads of player frustration. Thanks to you and your reviews all this is changing right now.
I haven't been able to recruit friends to play because of these myths. For whatever reason they trust the internet rumors over me saying "No. I won't run it that way. I don't want your characters dying or being permanently insane." Once COVID is under control I should find a local meetup that plays CoC. :-)
the truth is you can do absolutely whatever you want with these games.. if you want the end to be that every character is gifted a cute little kitten and lives happily ever after then its totally up to you..
Btw Seth, just finished running the end chapter of The Dare...fourth ever Keeper experience. Twice had my players jaws dropping from mental shock, emotional horror and personal dismay. I owe the choosing of my ensemble cast and the managing of narrative success TO YOU !!! Thank you Seth.
Very good description of CoC and the differences from D&D. I have heard people actually afraid to run or play CoC because of the "Oh it's a constant meatgrinder with characters slaughtered and gone insane right and left, make 10 characters when you start out and don't expect to live more then two sessions." This is as you say not true at all, playing CoC with a D&D mindset can lead to horroible fights that leave investigators mangled and unhinged, but unless they decide to charge the Esoteric Order of Dagon in Innsmouth on their own with a pistol and a machate, they will at worst leave the game with a derangement that will make for fun roleplaying and a few scars. I also find that CoC is great for playing on "player paranoia", after a story or two, have odd looking people turn up when they do research at the library or the newspaper office, it may be a deep one hybrid...or just a regular guy that is a bit off. Call of Cthulhu is a wonderful game and I really look forward to the rest of his series of videos.
Yes, in CoC combat is often an indicator of that you have gotten at a sub optimal path in the story... In other words: You have failed in some way if you get into combat. Though there are situations where the only way, to deal with those insane cultists, is combat, and here is it that combat become more tense than in D&D, as D&D you easily chop down a hundred snotlings, however in CoC you are up against a few people just as (in)competent at combat as you are!
At the beginning of the first session of my first game of CoC, over 20 years ago, we started with a combat. Of course, we were set in WW2, we were all selected by the allied command for our mission, and our ship was docked in Alexandria, Egypt. We all survived, save for one. A Scotsman, kilt and all, was hanging on for dear life to the legs of another, as they both dangled over the ship rail, when the trousers ripped. He botched his swim skill, but in the end, he died as he lived. Wearing a skirt, while holding another man's pants.
Yeah, a lot of the TPK's I've seen have been when the group tries to go Rambo on the mythos creatures. Heck, we had a TPK on the first scenario of At Your Door, when the players get robbed by a biker gang. For some reason, my players, who were outnumbered and outgunned, decided to fight back. And maybe it's the scenario's fault for expecting the PCs to accept being robbed and not fight back, but really you guys? My favorite is when the players ignore all the hints that you've been dropping that they really shouldn't be doing something. I had a player one time who found a cat in a "haunted" house. It was a perfectly friendly cat, so he picked it up, figured it might be his early detection system if any monsters showed up. Well, the cat wouldn't go up in the attic. It even scratched the PC's face to get away. So what does the PC do? He sticks his head up into the attic to see what might be up there. Yeah, I let him have it. He survived, but he had a pretty nasty scar after that.
Ravenloft setting is a meatgrinder, and you have to make Madness and Horror "Will saving throws." to get throw the game. Not everyone is in to that. The statement they make about Raven is, it is only horror if you do not have to deal with it every day, when you get use to something you become jaded. CoC is spice that works best ," a little at a time." There are plenty CoC monsters in D&D, but most D&D players do not want to role play horror.
The Everyone Dies myth comes from the intent of the game to ensure that the Investigators are aware how mortal they are and how losing that mortality can be very quick permanent. Probably some Keeper went from implied threat to practical application and then the rumour statrts
Oh man I was scared away from this game by Reddit. But this video has me itching to get my books. Subscribed and watching the rest of these great videos!!
So, I realize that this video is now almost 5 years old, however I just started listening to your podcasts so I was intrigued. Everything you said about the myths was exactly what I heard and understood COC to be which really turned me off to wanting to even look at it. But listening to you and Jon talk about it and now watching this, I'm really interested in giving this one a shot!
Thank you for making this. I have been gaming since 1979 and avoided CoC my entire gaming life because of those same "truths" you listed. It always bothered me that players and DM's alike seemed to hold the games lethality and "purity" as paramount. I am just now gearing up to get into CoC after 38 years of gaming just about everything else. Your videos factor greatly into that momentum.
I love "Rats within the Walls," and a "Pit full of Vipers." Players want short or long stories in quick campaigns. Not near instant kills in death traps.
I've always thought the phrase "Cthulhu go mad and die" ended up causing so much harm as it gave non players the wrong idea that it wasn't for them and never tried it or that's how you played, disposable characters in a disposable game. Must admit I was slightly shocked that you found so many people who claimed that there was no combat in Cthulhu, combat has always been a part of it from Shadows onwards though it has been treated as a dirty secret by some. The truth is closer to I feel is that combat will happen but in the end it will not save you. As for the no survivors myth even the infamous meat grinder that is Masks its suggested that you are meant to take breaks where the Investigators rest, heal up and prepare to continue the adventure anew a little weaker maybe but by no means at deaths door, though to be honest not many people seem to take up the option and play until their Investigators break.
Great video. It's been over 15 years since I last played Call of Cthulhu, and I didn't ever have a character die or go insane (permanently), I'd always assumed "everyone eventually dies or goes insane" was a joke about the game, not something that people believed was a universal truth. If anything with Cthulhu I always felt the main goal of the game wasn't to win but to prolong the inevitable, Cthulhu remains asleep... for now, etc. Hoping to play again this year with some friends, ideally soon, as I don't want to end up burning out on D&D and then just losing the drive for TRPGs again like I did 15ish years ago.
No survivors is a wild exaggeration, but it’s not unreasonable to say it will be a rare character that retires. Insanity or death is likely for most long term characters. Call of Cthulhu is pretty unforgiving of mistakes, and everyone will make a mistake eventually.
One thing I have trouble with is running a homebrew campaign, cause I'm not great with puzzles or leaving clues vague enough to keep the mystery going. I appreciate the stupendous amount of premade modules for this reason and, of course, Seth helping to interpret and shape them for ease of use. I also find it kinda sad that there's all these cool monsters but pretty much all of them can eat your face before you can even say "Oh God, oh God, we're gonna gonna die". Pulp definitely helps even the odds... sorta. Overall, I still love the system, and still find myself looking through the Starter Set adventures hoping I'll get a group who wants to play it.
One of the things I like most about Call of Cthulhu and the BRP is that it's skill-based. I've grown tired of level-based and class-based systems, personally. I think if players haven't read Lovecraft, it's better, personally. That leaves them surprised at some of the horrors that they inevitably encounter. I agree to players reading them if they want. I also love the backward-compatibility of the game is perfect. You forgot that the game is both intuitive and very easy to pick up by new players. I think it's a perfect segue game for new players for both of those reasons, not to mention that it can take place in the 20th century, giving a more familiar setting for new players. I love adapting creatures from folklore and myth for Call of Cthulhu. The jiangshi (hopping zombies) of Asia were a lot of fun to throw against one of the crews of the Doolittle Raid. I also enjoyed using the psoglav (Russian ghuouls), Shadowlings connected to Candle Cove, and even Robert Howard's zuvembie. Nice review. Thanks for sharing.
This is why I prefer the older Shadowrun Editions to the newer ones too. It is more complicated in how you roll your dice, but it is a skill based system just the same. What I love most about CoC, is that you can play it with players who do not know the rules at all. The character creation is intuitive to anyone, and from then on players know what they are good and bad at, and you just have to tell them what to roll, when they wanna do something.
This video really won me over. I've had a long history of playing and running many systems over the years, and have built up a reputation amongst friends for my one shots. Cthulhu had always been on my radar, I'm a big fan of cosmic horror, horror in general, and grimdark tones and atmospheres. But for some reason I never gravitated towards Call of Cthulhu. This video came up on my feed, I'd watched some of your others before and enjoyed them, so on a whim I gave it go, I was interested. I went and grabbed the quick-start rules and read them, I needed more, I went online an proceeded to buy both the keepers book and the investigators book in pdf so I could consume them immediatly, I was ravenous, I needed more, so I grabbed some modules and supplements, I started watching your other videos, then I was watching other videos, then all of a sudden I was writing a one-shot and had proposed it to my regular group, they accepted. Finally I had an audience. What unfolded was qouted as "Your best work yet", as we proceeded to descend rapidly down the rabbits hole, with some absolutely steller ropeplay from the investigators, we eventually ended with 4 of 5 members of the party in a drug induced catatonic state and a cliff hanger that begged for the return of Yog-Sothoth himself. 🙏 "Y'AI'NG'NGAH, YOG-SOTHOTH H'EE-L'GEB F'AI THRODOG UAAAH"🦑
Thanks for smashing those Myths, they've chased me away from Call of Cthulhu for over a decade. I'm finally going to check it out. Very interested in the Dark Ages material.
Hey Seth! I commented on one of these videos a year ago saying I was starting a campaign for Call of Cthulhu, since then we’ve run pretty regularly and my players who are all dnd vets have said they love it, one in particular has told me he actually preferred CoC to DnD now! And all these fun times and wild adventures we’ve had and will continue to have, I have you to thank entirely. For getting me into Call of Cthulhu, for making these great videos, I can’t thank you enough :)
Out of all the Keepers I have seen out there, you are simply the best. Bar none. Your videos are never boring or repetitive and they have a flow that really holds my interest. You also have a voice for radio. Your natural talent, enthusiasm and high intellect are a joy to witness. Your great passion for the game is full out infectious! What you have taught me is priceless. You have no idea how much I have learned from you by watching only a couple of your videos. Thank you so much for all the hard work, time and effort you invest in each and every one of your videos. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate it. You are doing the CoC community a tremendous service. Crack on and keep up the good work! Cheers and God Bless you, Sir!
I actually started my journey on becoming a Keeper because of your videos. Been reading the Keeper book along with listening to Lovecraft Mythos on Audible. Can't wait to see more CoC videos this year!
Hello Seth! I know I'm late to this party but thank you for this video. I discovered Lovecraft a bit late in life although I was pretty familiar with it thanks to other friends who loved the earlier editions of this game. I've read most of Lovecraft's Mythos stories and now for some reason this cold, cosmic horror aesthetic never gets old...yet I've never owned this game. Saw it for sale at my local game shop along with Pulp Cthulhu (I love pulp era adventures) and am thinking about getting into it. Thanks again!
Fantastic video! I’ve been playing CoC since 2010 and I absolutely love it. I love the horror genre and Lovecraft. I agree 100% with you on the myths that have been spread about the game. Looking forward to checking out the rest of this series!
Seth you rock! Loved your Traveller videos and you were a great player when you (Puffer) gamed with the group in Voyagers Of The Jump. As far as Cthulhu goes, I completely agree with your review and suggestions. My buddies and I first played the 1st gen of Cthulhu when we were kids and twisted the rules to our liking which is pretty much what became Pulp Cthulhu and Cthulhu By Gaslight. Good times! Anyway, thanks for the great videos!
These reviews are very helpful, especially for a novice to tabletop RPGs, such as myself. CoC came up on my radar and your video helped me decide that this is an RPG I want to take a shot at. Thank you!
I convinced one of my D&D groups to take a break from 5e, we're just about done with a mini Blades in the dark campaign then starting call of cthulu :)
This was actually super helpful to me. My regular dm wants to do a oneshot for Cthulhu this week and as I had limited experience with it I asked and the first thing I got is you'll die. It's dm vs players so you will not survive. So I was somewhat hesitant but this has helped to make me excited about it.
Thank you SO MUCH for this video (and playlist)! I have a group of D&D players who have been flerting with the idea of transitioning to Call of Cthulhu for quite some time now, but we were always intimidated by how hard it is to find concise and clear information about the basics and we didn't really know where to start. Most of the players are new to tabletop RPG in general and some of them struggle a little with english (we're all brazilians), so we kinda needed a way to make it as easy to understand as possible from the get go as to avoid breaking the flow of the game as much as possible. Man, you just saved me A TON of research and most definitely got at least 8 new players into the game. Already subscribed!
Don’t worry about your English . I am Canadian, born and raised. As Canada is part of the British Commonwealth, my native language is the King’s English. I would say that pretty much makes me an expert on the subject. Let me assure you that there is absolutely nothing wrong with your English, my friend.. Don’t be so hard on yourself. English is an incredibly difficult language to learn as a second language. In fact, I am actually pretty impressed by your grasp of our language. Keep at it! God Bless you, friend!
Really enjoyed your review, especially the myth busting. As someone new to the game, but an old hand at D&D, I especially appreciated your contextualisation to give me a better feel for COC. Looking forward to more videos.
Hi! First time Keeper here, I just really wanted to thank you for putting together these series. It was my Fiance's and another friends birthday this week and with our quarantine we weren't able to get together, so I decided to try to run a game over zoom for them and a few other friends (they typically always GM games for us). I spent a lot of time researching and your video's helped give me understand the game way a lot better. Your combat handout was also super helpful and a few of my players really loved it using to understand how they could get the advantage in combat. This was only my 3rd time ever running a game and it wen super well, & people wan to play again. :) So thank you!!!
Seth you rock thanks so much for all of your tips, this was my first table top rpg to play with my friends and all of your videos have helped me understand and play out as a better keeper thanks again you got a fan/sub as well, keep up the great work
This is honestly making me consider this game now that i know it doesn’t just have to be a grimdark story filled with my triggers and it can be just as varied and fun as dnd, just with more spooky investigation. Thank you!
I don't play CoC or D&D for that matter, since I don't have any other friends who are into it. But I still enjoy watching your videos and listening to you talkibg about those scenarios in detail. Thanks!
@Seth Skorkowsky Seth! You are my absolute favorite Tabletop RPG content creator (If not my overall favorite) and I wanted to tell you how wonderful you are! You have improved my game and the gaming life of my friends. Thank you for putting out such high quality work. As soon as my current book stack is finished (which also includes two Lovecraft compilations which I never would have read without you getting me into his fiction so also; OMG THANK YOU FOR THAT!) I plan on buying all of your books for myself and as presents for friends. I cannot thank you enough for all your content so as simply as possible: Thank you. I can only dream of passing into the Valhalla that would be to play at one of your tables! Fangirling flattery over. Brass tacks: I know I have already taken so much from you as I have ravenously consumed every one of your videos but I have one more request from you and this could even be a video suggestion: I just received the 7th ed CoC box set as the reward for winning a bet and also recently participated in a play test study rewarding me with 150 dollars to spend freely on Amazon. What are the best supplements to buy in addition to what I currently own (Keeper Guide, Investigators handbook, GM Screen) in mine or several price ranges? This will also be my first time running CoC but I have watched and listen to several games and have been running D&D a long time. Thank you so much for your help :) I am also open to everyone else's opinion as well ;)
Sorry if I'm late to the party, but there is one thing I'd really appreciate you giving your two cents on at some point in this series: the use of miniatures in CoC. Personally, I've always insisted on playing CoC "Theatre of the Mind." I can't help but feel that it neuters the horror aspect somewhat if you take away the players' ability to visualize the unspeakable horror in their mind's eye and reduce it to a tiny plastic depiction. I'd love to know your thoughts on them, and if there's any benefits I may be overlooking. Thanks!
I'm personally a huge fan of minis. They help with more than combat, such as helping everyone visualize and keep track of where they are in a building or the like. As far as the monster's horror being ruined by the mini representation, I just don't see monsters themselves as scary. What the monster does is the horror and i describe what they do. An oozing mass isn't that frightening, but once it starts pouring from a little old lady's eyes and mouth and begins chasing the PCs, they're scared enough and a plastic mini representing the creature won't diminish that. Also, the benefit in combat is wonderful.
I agree with Seth. It is less about "seeing" the monster and more about understanding where things are. Combat is much more engaging if you give players positional advantages or positional goals. Consider this: "There is a switch on the wall." Miniatures unlock varied paths and obstacles and minimizes "I run to the switch."
Absolutely a fair point. I really do enjoy maps and minis so maybe I'll give it a try. If nothing else it's a great excuse to collect some of the awesome mythos minis
I know this is a little old... BUT I have had a few Players over the years complain about that very topic... I've also known a few who simply refuse to "pour out more money" for the sake of visual aids... SO... I just improvised... and then I got used to it. I still use maps, but no grids on them... They are to scale when I employ them, and I have various "gridded cut outs" for rudimentary guides... Then it's a matter of coins, legos, tokens, and other things used for the "models" or "minis" in a given scene. Everybody gets what they want and need. There's enough spacial sense to diminish the "I run to the switch" baloney... AND there's no real "ruining the effect" of the theatre of the mind. You immerse as far or near as you wish... just let us finish annihilating it before you eat the Star Destroyer! :o)
Hi there, as a CoC veteran I really enjoyed your take on the 7th edition (which I like a lot as well). Nevertheless, I think you might have tackled the "myth" part by explaining how there is some kind of spectrum of playstyles. They are explicitly sorted out in Trail of Cthulhu (the Gumshoe Cthulhu-based investigation game) as "pulp", "lovecraftian investigation" and "purist" but one could stand anywhere between the 2 extremes. The first 2 "myths" apply pretty much 100% when playing the "purist" style, aiming at emulating HPL stories : there is pretty much no survival chance, just as most central characters in the stories end up dead, insane or worse and there's usually no combat. (check out "The Dance in the Blood" for ToC to get my point) Most CoC players I've met play some kind of hybrid "Lovecraftian investigation" where survival is an option and you can occasionnally save the world, but still recommend you create at least 3 connected investigators to start a campaign. On the other hand, the "pulp" style feels more like Indiana Jones stories, with lots of heroic deeds (you also get more HPs and can end up overpowered as the SAN rules for using spells are usually more lax). On an unrelated note, have you thought about filming some of your games and sharing them with your fans ? I don't like the tip lists you're doing (as I hate lists in general) but seeing you in action would probably be very useful to many people. Or you could take part in one of the "into the darkness" games ? (they play by Hangout) ru-vid.com/show-UCYk0EPjEA-CFxFbRQJLPFeg
I enjoyed this video immensely. As someone who has played Call of Cthulhu since the 80's, I find your remarks about the gaming community's opinion of the game to be spot on. I can only imagine that there are fans of the game who have hardly played or played under a bad keeper who have brought those three myths to being. Thinking about them, TPK's can certainly happen; I've seen them happen, lost a character in one and kept when it happened. Players can go mad, same deal. It's happened to a poor doctor of mine who I was attached to, as I had played him for over a year. Overwhelmingly, though, in my experience, players live on to fight another day with most of their sanity still intact. That is, at least, for those who haven't decided to study the spells of the mythos. That's an entirely different matter. I'm looking forward to the next vids in the series. Thank you!
I think one of the big culprits was the convention games. The convention games are pretty hardcore 1-shots with low survivability. As a 1-shot, that's awesome. But people would play them at the convention and think that the low survivability was just normal for Call of Cthulhu and not realize that it was cranked up because it was only a demo game. This was made worse when many of those convention games were then put in print beside normal scenarios with no disclaimer saying "Warning: They're all going to die." That happened a lot in the 80's. Also many of the 1980's scenarios had issues where the writers were trying to make it like D&D (Black Devil Mountain being a good example). But attempting to play CoC like D&D rarely ends well and characters die in droves. They used to sprinkle shoggoths and chthonins in scenarios like they were just normal, and very few groups can take one of those out, even if they prepare for it. I treat those creatures like I tread ancient red dragons in D&D. Use them sparingly.
Great idea for a series! As I tell new players, who ask the best way to build a character who can fight, "One that is best at running." At which point, I add that living to fight another day, is often the best strategy.
Your videos on D&D and CoC are just the best. I have been playing RPGs ever since I was 14 years old (AD&D was the first). We tried CoC. I loved it but couldn't find any of my friends who felt the same so I did not get to continue with it. The Lovecraftian mythos has been updated by all sorts of authors, some of which you mention but also folks like Robert Block of Psycho fame and Stephen King. This is just great fun.
I'm so happy you're doing a generalized intro to call of cthulu. I've been looking at all your reviews (love them by the way lol) and hearing about them has made me genuinely interested in trying to learn the game.
Thank you very much for this video. I love horror movies and playing D&D. I thought Call of Cthulhu was right up my alley. I bought the starter set last year and watched a bunch of videos. I liked that characters started out weak and the game was tough (I personally love to DM low level players in D&D - they're so squishy). The challenge I had was the indication that players would die at every turn. I like to scare people, but I don't want to have to roll up new characters all the time. It's also hard to fall in love with a character if you know they're dead meat at some point in the next game. I'm glad to hear that it's possible for the character to grow and develop. I'm trying this again. I'm sure I will love it. Thanks again for a video dispelling the myths out there!
The secret to a long-lasting Call of Cthulhu character is that the player totally knows that death or insanity is quite possible. It's the fear that really matters. A Keeper should spend more of their energy just trying to keep the PCs alive and sane than trying to kill them (The dice and monsters might have other intentions. That's their job. Yours it to make it fun.). A dead PC isn't as much fun as a living one (though some deaths can be fun). Keepers who try to kill the PCs are frequently Keepers who then wonder why no one wants to play with them any more. So don't try to. The PCs already have enough going against them. If you're coming from a D&D background, the first advice I'll give is that you probably need less monsters than your instincts tell you. Two ghouls will probably be enough challenge for a 4-character party. So start small. See how the challenge plays out. Then build up. But if you throw four ghouls against four PCs, the PCs are likely toast. If the players don't fear death, and play like a bunch of super-powered D&D heroes, they will die. If they play with the fear and the understanding that death is quick, they stand a much better chance of survival. It might take 1-2 characters before they figure it out, no matter how much you warn them ahead of time. Once they do, they start playing very smart. I suggest that when you're rolling up characters with them, you absolutely treat them like a PC that will survive a long time. This tells the players that you expect them to stick around, so the chance of survival exists. Next, when there's a terrible monster that can kill them in one hit, first show them what it can do. Have them discover a previous victim who was torn apart or have some nearby NPC be the first to be attacked and die screaming. It's amazing to see the players rethink that "Let's just charge up and attack it" plan once they see some poor NPC or barnyard animal get shredded. Finally, you might also look into Pulp Cthulhu. It's an add-on mod for 7e. It gives a much better chance of survival and allows more ass-kicking, while still being fragile enough that they fear death. Good luck. I hope you all have fun with it.
I'm so close to pulling the trigger and ordering the slip case set. I appreciate you taking the time to do these videos. My only concern is finding people to play. I'm playing 5E D&D with friends now and they show little desire to play a different game, especially one in which they're "normal people". One friend commented that "I get to be a normal person every day". Ugh. Anyway, liked and subbed.
You thought about just introducing them to the rules first in a non-Mythos setting? Maybe they face a more traditional vampire, or you just homebrew Jason or Freddy Kruger? I mean, those involve "plain humans" and are still fun. Or just use Pulp Cthulhu to get their toes wet with a more light-hearted Scooby Doo, Buffy, or Supernatural type scenario?
Marvellous review and I can’t wait for forthcoming episodes. Any plans to cover Delta Green (my favourite subsetting)? I like different RPGs for different reasons & although it can be fun to roll buckets of dice in a high level Vampire or Shadowrun game I love the desperation that comes with CoC combat. Combat is very much part of CoC but much like in real life you have to make sure the odds are stacked in your favour 😈
I just ordered the starter set to build up to this full game. I love your enthusiasm, honesty and yeah the skits and characters you add to make your already great reviews all the more entertaining, I saw the the CoC rulebooks way back in the late 80s at my local hobby shops but was so intimidated by them and from other gamers kinda shred away from the series. It’s been my own enjoyment over the years from HP’s stories and your interest and precise and informative videos that made me wanna take the plunge! Thanks!
I got a friend hooked onto the channel and those myths keep him from wanting to play but now I need to become a keeper. Thank you for you videos! Keep being awesome!
How different is 6th edition from 7th edition? I have the 6th edition book but I also wanted the aide of the videos; however, I don't want to get more confused as a result.
People telling me how I needed to play D&D was a HUGE reason I didn't play when I was younger! I really hope this "gate-keeping" of lore is on it's way out! As long as you and your players are having fun who cares?! Thanks for the vid! :)
Hi Seth, I want to start by saying I love your channel. I started recently Call of Cthulhu, I did Blackwater Creek in a one shot. The module was really easy to run and my group had a lot of fun. I'm trying to read an other adventure, but it's very hard. Can you do a video where you show how to prep a complete aventure.
Nice introduction! Your shattering of the Big Three Myths is most welcome. I've shied away from CoC since the mid-'80's because of them. I'm not a big fan of horror, and didn't read any Lovecraft until a few years ago. The stories were interesting, and I guess I am more of a fan of psychological horror than "slasher" horror. Your use of example films in this video is an inspired choice. A few of the examples you listed are films I really enjoy. That, combined with having read some Lovecraft and having a better understanding of the genre, got me thinking about the CoC RPG. The game is always listed among any "Top RPG" lists, so my curiosity has been piqued. I'm now planning on taking the plunge into CoC after watching your Starter Set Review video. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series, as it should really help flatten any learning curve with the game. It's also good to know that 7th edition is the best edition. Keep up the great work!
Wonderful Introduction! The myth about investigators' death is the most discouraging of all for players. The truth is, it can happen more easily than in other RPGs, because the investigators are only humans, as you said, and they deal with dangerous forces. So, while death is not necessary, it is quite possible. The imminent death, which is always not too far away, makes the game experience more intense and horrifying. Players should not consider their investigators immortal, because the keeper will always use a deus ex machina, no matter what they chose to do. Call of Cthulhu is a heavy, dark and gloomy RPG, death can be a means to intensify these dark aspects, not the only end, as I see it.
In D&D there are Soo many things that can the player characters if they fail a Spot skill check. The Gelatinous Cube is one such monster. You can Walk right into and get killed before you know what happen. CoC is what life is like for D&D characters under 5th class levels lacking in hit points.
I will be wrapping up my current 5e D&D campaign in the next couple of weeks. As one does, I intended on starting a new D&D campaign. Last week i was in my gaming library and pulled the CoC 7e books off my shelf, which have been sitting there since i purchased them in 2014. Later in the evening after reading a bit of the Keeper Rulebook I did a RU-vid search for the new edition of CoC and found your videos. Just wanted to send a quick thanks, as these have helped break down the game and have given me some inspiration to finally run this system. I've known about it since I was a kid in the '80's but never gave it a chance as our thing was always D&D. I'm looking forward to trying this w my players - even if it's just for a little break from XP and Gold.
Seth Skorkowsky I'm pretty excited. Have been reading a lot of HPL, watching movies and pulling good ambient/drone background music from my record collection. I have a player that already told me he isn't a fan of the horror genre, but he loves investigation and role playing, so I think he'll have a good time.
One thing I suggest, since your players are coming straight from D&D, check out The Darkness Beneath the Hill. Good into adventure and a dungeon-crawl. That might ease them into it. Or.... you can take the opposite approach and go as far from D&D as you can to make it clear to them that shooting the monster is probably bad. In that case, I'd recommend Dead Light or Edge of Darkness. Of course I'll always recommend The Haunting. It's a solid classic. Not all CoC has to be horror (probably blasphemy to say, but its true). Lots of adventures lack horror, instead focusing on other-worldly or just supernatural mysteries. Bad Moon Rising comes first to mind. Zero horror, but also not that great of an adventure, so nix that.
Seth Skorkowsky - Thanks for the recommendations. Trying to decide what to run, so that's pretty helpful. I think I'll be steering them away from anything remotely dungeon crawl. I own the Players Guide w The Haunting, the adventures in the Keepers Rulebook, the Keeper Screen, Peterson's Abominations, Doors to Darkness, and Down Darker Trails. Needless to say, I have plenty of stuff to read through and decide the best route to take my players on. Kind of into the idea of some modern horror w Peterson's Abominations since it's so far removed from the feel of D&D. Again, thanks for the feedback sir.
Very nice introduction to the game. Just what I was looking for...thanks! Just a suggestion...given the quality of the content of your videos, I feel fairly confident that if you invested even a small amount in some upgraded audio equipment, it would put enough polish on your videos to increase your traffic, and responses. Either way, thanks again!
You've convinced me to dive in to CoC and get the book, a scenario (Haunting), and the desire to capture the imagination of some players. Now please release your character creation video! Please, please, please, clarify how the core skill stats can best be used while playing? Is it similar to the core stats of DnD??
That's amazing. I'm actually in nearly the same situation you are describing. I play D&D, as player and GM, and I love it. But I also have a favour for horror settings (I love the Lovecraft stories and such), for mysteries and puzzles and I like to create goosebumps for my players, to creep them out a bit and let them face morally difficult dilemmas. But in D&D quite often my players make decisions which are... funny? not serious? life threatening? Sometimes even plain stupid from the characters point of view. It's not that I can't enjoy those moments. But sometimes I whish for a more serious playstile, for the players to think before they act. So I've been checking out CoC. I really like the world of course, but as you mentioned I often heard things like there is no combat. It is very roleplay-heavy, and by that I mean roleplay only. And I love my D&D action and all those funny moments. And most of my players do so, too. I was thinking like, I could never encourage them to play with me anyways so why bother. Now I've picked up hope that I can show them this video and perhaps (when I've got the time to go through all the rules, settings and to prepare some stories) we will play sometime. So thank you very very much, I will now be occupied to watch the other parts as well :)
Great video! I often argue that modern Cthulhu gaming is far more influenced by Lumley than it is Lovecraft. Often when people think of something being Lovecraftian, they’re actually thinking of things that Lumley did.
What a fantastic video! As someone who is just getting started with CoC and working toward running my first scenarios, your videos have been a great resource. I am excited for the rest of this series and just ordered some of the books you recommended in this video!
Hi, Seth! First off, I'd Like to thank you for this AWESOME overview of Call of Cthulhu! I am a really new keeper/enjoyer of Call of Cthulhu (and to RPG's all over!) CoC really suits my "realm" of fantasy since I love H.P Lovecraft and find it incredibly entertaining, as well do my friends. We recently went through "The Darkness beneath the hill" scenario, which everyone LOVED! For a first time keeping the game, it went well, got a few tips and comments and a lot of compliments on what to improve for our next adventure and so on. Filled with tension laughs and insanity. But!! always those smelly buts.. I am struggling with making a game flow fluently and introducing NPC's, Horrors, etc. I am sure I'm not alone, but I'd REALLY love to see a series about the whole thing. Prepping up for the game, what to bookmark with post its, the reading up, how to keep and create tension, the actual gameplay of a scenario AND what to do when the scenario ends. Like what to do in between scenarios, with healing, sanity and improvement checks and basically leading on to the next adventure. I'd really love to see a somewhat "beginners"-sort of scenario and how it is broken down into all there is around to prepare and possibly make as far as handouts and stuff like that are made. basically a CoC for dummies! hahaha Thank you again for a fantastic and interesting channel! keep up the awesome work!
Very helpful! I've also been one that has been chased away from playing CoC because of the overwhelming mindset that it has to be death and/or insanity for every game. This take makes me want to look into it more.
Their print versions come with PDFs? I really like that smart business model, it lives up to modern times where players might not all live in the same area, and giving the GM the ability go supply them with free books is great. Too few companies do that, glad to hear Chaosium does. Even if your videos had not convinced me to play it already (which they did), this would be the final straw to make me start. :D
I have been day dreaming about potentially playing this game for some time now, and I imagined I'd put vampires, werewolves, zombies, and maybe another gothic horror monster or two in there. I really get the gothic sense from the idea of the lovecraft game, which intrigues me more than just the basic tentacle monsters and such. Hearing your thoughts on how it should be very open to the other potential horror monsters is great!
I've been looking to play some RPGs with my friends (all of us are noobs) and your intro into CoC plus your review of the starter kit has me excited to play! Great reviews! I look forward to watching the rest!
Using only lovecraft is ridiculous! That would cut so much off! Playing a sci-fi style with something like aliens, a jungle adventure with a predator like hunter. Heck, I could even see someone running a game with some psycho killer like Michael Meyers or the family from Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Norman Bates, or even Jason or Freddy if you want to add more supernatural horror to it. And let’s not forget that Lovecraft was a great friend to Robert E. Howard and the two of them traded and shared ideas between their stories all the time. Just sticking to Lovecraft fiction does a lot to hinder you when you run a game.
Hi, Thanks!!!! This is awesome! I just ordered the starter set!!! I am also interested in Cthulhu Rising. Have you done a review on that? If you did I can't find it. Is there any cyberpunky/Blade runner type of CofC? thanks again! Your reviews are amazing!!!!
Great video, looking forward to the next parts, especially interested in hearing about pulp cthulhu if possible. Random question: Have you ever heard of "Don't Rest Your Head", if so what do you think about it and would you consider making a video about it? Another question: What game/system has in your opinion the best sanity system and why?
Never heard of "Don't Rest Your Head." Sorry. I really dig the CoC sanity system. It took us a while before it fully clicked with us, and the change was when I remembered to start altering character personality when PCs went insane. The clean dressed guy stopped being so clean dressed, the flighty rich girl started obsessively trying to be prepared for any situation at all times and her expensive clothing gave way to safari gear, even at fancy parties. Another PC gains a nervous tic, another becomes a clean-freak. The slow alterations to their characters really worked for us, much better than only using it for explosive Bouts of Madness.
Well, I do recommend taking a look at it at some point if you have the time, as it is fantastic in both system and flavor, and by far one of the most unique books in both aspects. Sounds fantastic, I've been really wishing to get back into tabletop RPGs and recently found a weekly group so I could try the system there. Thank you!
A little late but for audiobooks listen to anything and everything narrated by Wayne June. He is THE voice of the setting in my mind because of his stellar performances.
Excellent series! Thanks! I've used it to 'inform' my players. I've been a CoC Keeper for 30+ years now and this is the best series of videos about CoC I've ever encountered. Going to make the jump to 7th Ed. myself soon (currently leading 6th Ed. / Gaslight with 'The Golden Dawn' sourcebook backdrop with 6 great players). :-) Many thanks & have a sparkling day! :-)
I love your channel and your way of explaining stuff! You have just the right rythm, voice tone and other factors that like the best professors I had in my studies... just keep the attention span high. Thanks for all the Insight you're giving us, I'm learning to be a new Keeper :) just to change from my foverer DM d&d role ahahah
Hey Seth. I just wanted to say thank your for making these videos on this game. I hope you read these comments because I have a conundrum. I used to play D and D back in the 80's, but haven't really played a tabletop RPG with people in over thirty years. After watching this overview of Call of Cthulhu, I am very interested in playing it. My problem is the town I live in has no gamers, and I'm at a loss of how to start. I figure with Covid going on, a lot of people play online. But I am not sure where to find these people. And if I do start playing, what do I need to buy? Just the rules? Or would I be better off getting Fantasy Grounds and the rules and maybe trying to find people that way? Any advice would be appreciated. Anyway, I love your channel. I think you are the best gaming youtuber on the internet. Your videos always educate me, and make me laugh out loud when you play your characters. Keep up the awesome work, and once again thank you for sparking my interest. (I'm even going to check out your books, if you write stories as well as you write scripts for your videos, I don't feel I will be disappointed.)
