39,327
edits
Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game): Difference between revisions
m
update links
m (clean up, replaced: Category:Tabletop Game → Category:Tabletop Games) |
m (update links) |
||
Line 7:
{{quote|''Okay, now roll SAN.''}}
One of the most famous [[Tabletop Games]] of all time, ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' combines the adventurism and teamwork of [[Dungeons and Dragons]] with the [[Lovecraftian Fiction]] setting of the [[Cthulhu Mythos]]. Your adventurers, or rather investigators, are dropped into scenarios right out of a Lovecraft story, and must keep their wits about them; the goal of every ''C.O.C.'' campaign is not so much to ''defeat'' the Enemy, but to ''survive'' Its horrendous onslaught while following the mystery out to its bitter -- [[Killer Game Master|and usually grim]]—end.
Notable for introducing [[Sanity Meter|Sanity as a character stat]]—your characters actually risk having their minds blown apart, partially or completely (and sometimes even ''literally''), by the events they encounter. As a result, the term "SAN check" has drifted out of the ''Cthulhu'' following and become a generally recognized metaphor among gaming circles. As characters learn more lore about the Cthulhu Mythos, their maximum Sanity shrinks—giving players the choice of having characters who are ignorant or crazy.
Also has variations for settings and time periods including the [[The Roaring Twenties|1920s]], [[Present Day|Modern]], [[Delta Green]], [[The Gay Nineties|Gaslight]], [[Dark Age Europe|Dark Ages]], [[Ancient Rome|Roman times]] and [[In Space|space]].
Do not confuse with the video game ''Call of Cthulhu: [[Dark Corners of the Earth]]'', which is also based on the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] (specifically, on the "Raid On [[Town with a Dark Secret|Innsmouth]]" campaign module of the RPG), a [[Collectible Card Game]] of the same name loosely based on (and licensed by) Chaosium's aforementioned RPG, a movie done in the black-and-white style of the 1920s about Cthulhu, the Youtube series [[Calls For Cthulhu]], or the original [[H.P. Lovecraft]] short story they are all named after.
----
== Has examples of ==
Line 23:
* [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]: Intelligent flying fungoids, semi-vegetable tentacled elder things, and more.
* [[Blessed with Suck]]. One old issue of Wizard Magazine stated that ''Call of Cthulhu'' is the only game in which the player with the fastest speed lives the longest, and the only game in which ''no one'' wants the magic item. It doesn't help the original game was a ticking countdown from sanity to insanity: your character ''will'' go insane. It's just a matter of how fast.
** Not entirely true. Your character might not go insane. They have a good chance of dying before they hit that point. Needless to say, ending a Call of Cthulhu game with a living and sane character is unlikely at best.
* [[Blue and Orange Morality]]: Even the most superficially benevolent races in the game have utterly inscrutable or bizarre motives.
* [[Body Horror]]: Mostly for non-player characters, but PCs aren't safe either.
Line 30:
** Unfortunately, the Mi-Go are just not all that good at emulating human senses (which, given they are sentient fungus-things, makes sense). One supplement posits that the use of speech software, high quality cameras, microphones, and a lot of lucky rolls would allow a brain in a jar to have a lot closer to human abilities.
* [[Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu]]: See below.
* [[Canon Welding]]: The ''Malleus Monstrorum'' sourcebook. Not only mentioning every major Mythos entity, the book also throws in ''[[The Thing]]'', The Martians of ''[[The War of the Worlds]]'', and ''[[The Wicker Man]]'' and several of [[Stephen King]]'s characters are Nyralathoep's avatars.
* [[Catgirl]]: Bast, the Egyptian goddess of Cats. She shows up to exact vengeance if someone hurts a cat.
* [[Cats Are Magic]]: A staple of Lovecraftian fiction in his "Dreamlands" works, naturally replicated here and with the inclusion of the goddess Bast as an Elder God.
* [[Cigar Fuse-Lighting]]: In the supplement ''Terror from the Stars'', section "Field Manual of the Theron Marks Society". Theron Marks himself is stated to always have a lit cigar in his mouth during adventures in order to light sticks of dynamite.
* [[Cosmic Horror Story]]: Call of Cthulhu at its core.
* [[Cool Uncle]]: In ''The Fungi from Yuggoth'' adventure "Mountains of the Moon", an NPC named Victor recognizes one [[Player Character]]. He was an old friend of the PC's father, and the PC remembers him as "Uncle Victor", a warm, good-hearted man (even though Mom didn't seem to like him).
* [[Cult]]s: Usually worship one or more [[Eldritch Abomination]]; [[Religion of Evil|NOT nice people]].
* [[Despair Event Horizon]]: What often happens when characters are exposed to too much of the Mythos.
* [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]]: Although, this happens very, very rarely, since meeting the aforementioned eldritch abominations usually ends badly.
** "Each round 1D3 investigators are scooped up in Cthulhu's flabby claws to die hideously."<ref>Alternatively: "Cthulhu eats 1d6 investigators per round. No save."</ref>
* [[Deadly Hug]]: In ''Masks of Nyarlathotep'', the Cthulhu Mythos leader M'Weru likes to embrace her victim and cast the Hands of Colubra spell. When the spell changes her hands into the heads of poisonous snakes, she uses them to bite her victim and poison them.
* [[Deal with the Devil]]: The spell Unspeakable Oath. By devoting yourself to the power Hastur, he grants you a wish or boon. However, you begin to lose charisma at a graduated rate. When your charisma score is 0, or when Hastur wills it, you become his slavering thrall
* [[Departure Means Death]]: Spectral Hunters must stay within 1 mile of the doll that was used in their creation.
* [[Dream Land]]: The Dreamlands are one of the possible settings of the game.
* [[Eldritch Abomination]]: Entire bestiaries of 'em.
Line 57:
** Nodens and Hypnos also exhibit this trope, albeit for very different reasons.
* [[Go Mad From the Revelation]]: [[Trope Namer]] (the phrase is taken from the same paragraph quoted above). When the characters realize just what is going on, their Sanity often snaps. As they learn more about how the world ''really'' works (the "Cthulhu mythos" stat), their maximum Sanity permanently drops by an equal amount. Thus, someone with a perfect Mythos score, having learned everything there is to know about the universe, would have no Sanity at all.
** Well, while a perfect Mythos score is enough to leave you with zero Sanity, it does not mean you know all there is to know (that would still be kinda tempting). Just imagine trying to fill a glass of water (your mindful of sanity) with a truckload of sand. Horrifying, mind-shattering sand...
* [[Government Agency of Fiction]]: Delta Green in the U.S. and PISCES in Britain.
* [[The Greys]]: Featured in [[Delta Green]]. {{spoiler|They're actually artificial life forms created by the Mi-go as part of their experiments on humanity.}}
Line 76:
* [[The Library of Babel]]: The Library of Celaeno in the adventure ''The Fungi From Yuggoth''.
* [[Louis Cypher]]: Nyarlathotep is fond of this. In the ''At Your Door'' campaign, he appears as realtor Atley P. North and a saxophonist called 'the Royal Pant'.
* [[Lured Into a Trap]]: In "The Worm That Walks", in the ''Shadows of Yog-Sothoth'' campaign. Mr. Edwin sends the [[PC]]s out to investigate a haunted house, and they end up getting ambushed by a family of cannibals who knew they were coming (because [[The Mole|Mr. Edwin]] told them).
* [[Mysterious Antarctica]]: ''Beyond the Mountains of Madness'' sends the player characters on an expedition to Antarctica.
* [[Neck Snap]]: Supplement ''Fearful Passages'', adventure "Sleigh Ride". A giganteus does it to Professor Chance.
Line 86:
* [[Pocket Protector]]: Jack "Brass" Brady's metal plate in the ''Masks of Nyarlathotep'' campaign.
* [[Retcon]]: As of the the fifth edition, the game discards the entire Good vs Evil aspect Derleth tried to jam into the [[Cthulhu Mythos]], returning to Lovecraft's original vision.
* [[Riddle Me This]]: The supplement ''Curse of the Chthonians'', adventure "The City Without A Name". The investigators must calculate the five numbers of Cthulhu using the occult science of Gematria in order to enter, use and escape from a special chamber.
* [[Rock of Limitless Water]]: The supplement ''Terror Australis'', adventure "City Beneath The Sands". The supernatural creature known as Power Boy can cause a spring to come out of a rock just by sticking his rangga (a ceremonial staff) into the rock.
* [[Sand Worm|Really Freaking Huge Sandworm]]: Dholes. As mentioned above, anyone getting in their way is automatically squashed and killed, and the survivors get a roll to try and find enough remains to bury.
Line 95:
* [[Screw Destiny]] / [[Taking You with Me]]: [http://forum.spiritsoffire.com/index.php?topic=3954.0 Old Man Henderson], the guy who [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|blew up Hastur]].
* [[Sealed Evil in a Can]]: The status of a great many (if not most) of the Great Old Ones, including the titular Cthulhu.
* [[Self-Destruct Mechanism]]: ''[[Call of Cthulhu (tabletop game)]]'' campaign ''The Fungi from Yuggoth''.
* [[Shotguns Are Just Better]]: Also [[Short-Range Shotgun]]. Close up, they can deal about 4D6 worth of damage, enough to kill almost anything that isn't [[Immune to Bullets]]. Oh, and short range shotgun can be averted if you load them with rifle rounds.
* [[Sickening Crunch]]: A star vampire does this to Vetch's spine in ''The Fungi From Yuggoth'' adventure "Castle Black".
* [[Starfish Aliens]] - The Elder Things actually ''have'' starfish-shaped heads. Then there are the Mi-Go, the Great Race, Cthulhu, etc...
* [[Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]]: Most Great Old Ones (and a few species) are described thus, possibly overlapping with outright godhood.
Line 110:
* [[Trashcan Bonfire]]: In the supplement ''[[Fearful Passages]]'' adventure "The Iron Ghost".
* [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity]], for those who mess with magic.
* [[The Worm That Walks]]: The [[Trope Namer]] is a creature in the game.
* [[Wretched Hive]]: Dylath-Leen in the Dreamlands supplement.
* [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form]]: In their vanishingly rare moments of kindness, Outer Gods may manifest in forms not conducive to Sanity-blasting shock. Or, in the case of Nyarlathotep, it's just another way for them to mess with human minds.
| |||