Call of Cthulhu RPG: A brief look at the lore and mechanics 

"Not what we thought it was..." Me: Oh they probably added and made it 15 "12" Me: *confused math noises*

‘Oh, he probably messed up and got 15’ >12

When 10 x 5 = 12 you know you've already lost all of your remaining sanity.

Why is Call of C'thulu so good for one-shots you ask? Well you see: it usually only takes 1 shot to kill your character.

"If you get hit by a bullet you could die" Ben 2019

im trying really hard to figure out how "ten times five" can be misinterpeted to make you thing it comes out to 12.......

2:00 Friendly reminder: this man has a biochemistry degree.

"Some aspect of Evil" *Killer Queen behind the door*

“I wanted to run a 30s Nazi heavy Indiana Jones type adventure!” That’s why Pulp Cthulhu was invented.

Q: On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad are you at math? Puffin Forest: "12"

The Story that he reads from, "The Horror in the Clay" is the first 'chapter' of Lovecraft's most popular short story "The Call of Cthulhu"

Puffin chose to shy away from knowledge to avoid going mad thats why he freed his mind from basic arithmetics. Lest he wakes an unfathomable horror upon the world from the miss use of the cursed art of multiplication

OoOOoOoooooooOooh hello there! I have found this book under close to a burning pile of books. The book surely says that it will bring great daaaaanger, it is called Necronomicon and from what I've read so far it wants to bring the evi... Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

3:10 SHES A KILLER QUEEEENN- *explosion noise*

My favorite CoC experience is when my friend went insane for 9 days in the middle of combat, he didn't survive the first round. I unloaded a burst shot from my Thomson, rolled poorly, and shot my friend 17 times in the head. Great game, 10/10.

"Here's an excerpt from a short story by H.P. Lovecraft." Just make sure it's not the one with the cat.

Exercise: attach these events to their respective RPG: 1: "Rock falls, everyone dies" 2: "Book falls, everyone is mad"

Puffin Forest: ''Humanity can't win in Call of Cthulhu'' Me: "You have clearly never heard of Old man Henderson."

"our battles are futile because they are immortal and we are not" Oldman Henderson "Am i a joke to you?"

As GM (or keeper in this case) there is little more hilarious than watching your typical D&D players try and play CoC like D&D and get totally wrecked by it.

"10 x 5 = 12" See, this is what happens when you don't have the constitution for math.

"Guns are very deadly". You should have said something about the holy grail of god killing. SHOTGUNS

3:04 Are we just going to ignore the fact that Killer Queen is in that closet? Although I probably wouldn't touch the door handle... *Killer Queen has already touched the door handle*

"I told you, DON'T READ THE BOOKS!" "IT WAS A TRAVELLER'S GUIDE TO BOISE!" *"DON'T. READ. THE. BOOKS!"*

"The Horror in the Clay" otherwise known as the first part of Lovecraft's story "The Call of Cthulhu." Yep.

Ben: *reading The Horror In The Clay* Red: See, this is what happens when you don't have the constitution for math.

Puffin forest: the idea that the world works on logical, understandable principles is a lie we tell ourselves Also puffin forest: 10×5 = 12

Just in case you didnt know. Theres an alternative set of rules for more combat based campaigns called "Pulp Cthulhu" that is also made by Chaosium. It would allow for that Indiana Jones style game you want

"One day, humanity's going to fail." Old Man Henderson says otherwise.

puffin in dnd: happy go lucky super nice puffin in call of Cthulhu: super dark and realistic

I ran a short COC campaign which was based on "The Dreams in the Witch House", "The Crack'd and Crook'd House", and "The Whisperer in Darkness". All four PCs survived, although three of the PCs' were brains in jars on their way to Yuggoth. It was the first COC campaign I'd ever run. I hope to do another someday.

4:20 *"aw, it looks like a derp-eyed cat with a weird moustache- OH nope, that's a skull... ok... great"*

I, too, think of Killer Queen as an Eldritch god from another planet

*3:02* Killer Queen has already touched that doorknob, which is why it's gone

You’ve mentioned you’ve played Vampire: The Masquerade before. Is there a possibility you’ll make a video on that game as well?

Thank you for being one of the first and definitely the best at explaining not only HOW CoC works, but what it IS as a system of mythology. And thank you for not assuming we have all read the books. I have seen "In the Mouth of Madness" and Reanimator and that is about it.

Cthulhu: my form is infinite, the universe doesn't run on rules Humanity: so things can happen with no reason? Cthulhu: yes puny mortal, your~ Humanity: so you leaving us alone or us beating you for no reason is possible? Cthulhu: ...........

Mysterious colors, unlike any seen on Earth!

3:07 “Killer Queen has already touched your mental health”

3:12 That idea of chaos and and man's helplessness is what I love about reading ancient epics, because they are full of characters exploring and wrestling with how we ought to live in that grim world. They call the destined destruction of all Fate, which is above even the god's themselves.

3:02 One of those monsters just wants to live a normal, quiet life.

3:05 "She's a killer, Killer Queen!"

Please recite more Lovecraft, it was genuinely terrifying hearing you read that excerpt. Fwooh, chills down my vertebrae

We ran a Delta Green game once (different system, same Lovecraftian world). I had one "backup" character who never even got to be in the player group. She went insane just studying things behind the scenes. She had such paranoia she thought her dad was a monster. When she finally left her apartment, she thought an alley rat was some hideous creature come to kill her. She became a future assignment for the remaining group all before she even met them. Fun times.

I laughed so hard at 12. I don't know why. ... wait is my sanity compromised?!

You know "Achtung Cthulhu!"? It's a set of supplements for CoC to play in a mythos influenced WW2. Including special rules for more pulpy games.

I really hope you can do more of these. This is one of my favorite mythos and enjoyed this one a lot

Killer queen has already touched the door knob

This is one of my favorite RPG settings. CoC has the biggest immersion potential because you don't play a lvl 20 powergamed d&d 3.5 character that literally can kill a Terrasque in turn one (never losing an initiative too). We have one of the best dms out there. She tailors the CoC adventures to play in our timeline and we play as ourselves. This is "insanely" funny if you catch my drift. We had a lot of "that's crazy, but I really think we would do that" moments. We in our group went to school together and we are still friends almost 20 years down the road. We have changed, obviously. But the "play-yourself" setting brings out a lot of memories as well. I can only recommend it.

You know, I'm getting my education as a math teacher for kids, and... well your math skills intrigue me

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this video. My first TTRPG will be starting soon and having this quick glimpse was very helpful. Time to make my character sheet and hope for the best! Great video btw

"hers a random story from HP lovecraft" **reads the beginning of the freaking Call of Cthulhu**

90% of the comments: “how do you get 12 out of 10x5?”

3:03 killer queen has already touched that door

OMG I love lore explained videos and this hit my nerdy spot just right!

You: *throws d20* DM: Killer queen has already touched that die roll D20: *1*

And elsewhere a Sword say "I waaaarned youuuu"

killer queen has already touched the timestamp 3:03

thank you so much this was perfect to share with my players also omg your reading voice is so difference lol

You have a strikingly attractive personality/voice/way of telling a story That keeps me coming back its almost...abserd🤣👍

"Eventually we will fail." Tell that too old man Henderson m8.

Puffin:sees *10x5 and comes up with 12* Puffin: yea that sounds about right I may not be a mathematician, but I'm fairly certain theres no possible way to combine 10 and 5 and get 12 Edit: I mean combine 10 and 5 only, without any other numbers

Your art has improved puffin

I love your cthulu videos ! Pls keep them coming

1:50 "This is what happens when you don't have constitution for math"

3:07 Killer queen has already touched the doorknob I didnt know you were a jojos fan

The faces were like “Oh god” “Don’t let it be real” “ *BRUH* ”

Hey puffin! I've really been enjoying the story vids you make. I'm a recently "new" player to the DnD and Call of Cthulu games as of the last year, and your stories about being a GM had inspired me to try my hand at working on a first time homebrew! There's a really awesome Handbook and Monster Manual almost identical to DnD's 5th edition, but specially tailored for the Warcraft universe if you ever feel like adding some extra spice to PCs. I'm still in the midst of working on a Master Plot and building some different encounters for the party, but it's a cool read all together! Anyways... loving the videos, and always hoping to see more hilarious antics that you (or your party) is up to! Cheers!

Ben, buddy, I'm gonna need you to explain that next-level math, there.

3:03 Killer Queen has already touched that doorknob

"the world will one day fall" but not today. today, old man henderson kills a god.

Love your videos. Would love to see more Call of Cthulhu themed ones! Or even other games like dark heresy or BESM.

3:06 Killer Queen! I really like JoJo, and I'm happy that Ben drew it in his lovely style!

I really wanna hear how you thought 10x5=12? Then again HP Lovecraft had such a "poor constitution for math" that he might agree with that

Unrelated to the video, I'm enjoying the videos again, I wish that Nobilis video was still around, Nice work, Puffin.

When I played this game my DM had what I considered a very fair (though totally non canon) setup: While he did sanity checks ALOT and set the thresholds rather high to succeed whenever "dark cosmic truths" were on the table, he offered *THREE* methods to restore sanity, all reasonable IMO. First was rest. While you healed hp at 2 every week, you healed sanity at one point every two weeks, simply by keeping your mind unstressed and free of the horrors of the Beyond. Second, you could take Laudenum or Heroin to either lower lower sanity score or temporary raise your dice pool for sanity checks (the trade off being every use ran the risk of drug addiction and all those nasty penalties if you didn't maintain the habit). Finally, in his version the Abramhamic God was very real, it was simply one deity out of the many cosmic beings out there. It created humanity, protected them from the WORST of things, and eternally aided them whenever it could. Knowing this *COULD* give a spiritually tuned and intelligent character really good sanity and sanity saving scores. However it was equally likely in those cases that your character would learn their "almighty god" was just one of many hostile ones (and not even *remotely* the most powerful) and mentally shatter at the revelation (LOTS of strategic dice rolls were involved in gaining this boon). So there you are: three means to improve sanity. One borderline impractical but present, the other two completely risk/reward based.

3:03 I guess he really did blow your mind

3:06 I see killer Queen! So does that mean puffin has watched Jojo?

seriously though you should totally make more of these.

Do more of these!!!! I love these videos. The more edgy and creepy table top ones. The way you TLD the story of how the tentacle hentai monster killed that dude off the cliff by puncturing his eyes out was so intriguing.

2:19 *pauses* I just want to know how you got 12 out of that. like...you could make an entire video on how you logic'd that and I would be really intrigued cus I can't for the life of me figure out how you get 12

Cthulhu actually isn't a god. He's a priest. The actual gods are much scarier than he is

1:24 so the solution is there is an artifact that is making a magical barrier preventing technology in the area, including cars and guns, from working, so it becomes a race using ingenuity.

Sounds amazing

I'm curious about how you did get 10 * 5 = 12

3:03 Killer Queen has already touched that door.

"Why don't I run a Call of Cthulhu game, but Indiana Jones themed!" Bro, that's what the Pulp Cthulhu rule set is for, my man. They've literally gotcha, dude.

3:07 Me: Sees Killer Queen Me: iS tHaT a JoJo ReFeReNcE

I've been running a CoC campaign with a group of friends over Discord and we honestly Like the game system ourselves. and I'm glad I had learned about it from your channel back when you made the first CoC video I think. Thanks Puffin

Ben: 10 x 5 = 12 Me: Ben Roll For Insanity Check!

Studying for a session with friends. Thank you!

You know, I wonder if Lovecraft would appreciate the sheer popularity and variety of his works in the modern world.

years back My Brother, a friend and I played CoC, as we played teen armature ghost hunters, it was the rare time I actually didn't die in the session, as I played a meat head dude who was hell bend on "Punching a Ghost"

I may need a follow up to the math tutorial.

More cthulhu stories please! Puffin is best when he gets dark.

3:03 the man tries to shut the door but killer queen has already touched the door nob

So, do you ever encounter an obelisk that you REALLY shouldn't push over?

So science and god bad? Of course it's HP Lovecraft, that man was scared of everything

4:00 the horror in the clay is the first part of The Call Of Chtulhu

"Eventually we're going to lose" Old Man Henderson has entered the chat.