There are new owners at Chaosium who have a focus on Call of Cthulhu, the game they are famous for. Does that mean all other Call of Cthulhu projects are dead in the water? Perhaps not – today Cubicle 7 launched a Kickstarter for World War Cthulhu: Cold War for the Call of Cthulhu RPG. […]
Founding fathers return to rescue Call of Cthulhu
Greg Stafford and Sandy Petersen have returned to Chaosium. Petersen is the original designer of Call of Cthulhu the RPG Chaosium made famous and Stafford founded the publisher back in 1975 with a war game called White Bear and Red Moon (later renamed Dragon Pass). In June of 2013 Chaosium raised over half a million […]
Back from the Dead: A Review of Chill, 3rd Edition
Every long-time fan of tabletop role-playing has a game they consider amazing that slipped through the cracks, an unfortunate casualty in a hobby where only a few big names dominate the hobby’s attention. For many, that game was Chill, a horror RPG first released in the mid-80s. Overshadowed in the 80s by Call of Cthulhu, a second edition was released […]
Insanely Good: A Review of Silent Legions
Lovecraftian horror RPGs are a dime a dozen, with the venerable Call of Cthulhu leading the pack, young upstart Trail of Cthulhu in a close second, and the rest trailing behind. This has been the way of things for years, and everyone’s been fine with it. Now, there’s a new kid on the block, and he’s looking to change everything. Silent […]
Succumb to the Masks of Nyarathotep
Masks of Nyarathotep has long been considered a classic Call of Cthulhu supplement. I’ve not tried it but I’m told running the game is a challenge. There are many NPCs, plenty of locations, cultists and one angry Outer God. The Companion is Sixtystone Press‘s proposed solution. It seems they’re right as the Kickstarter asked for […]
Thriving on Chaos: Five Tips for Running a Tabletop RPG for Large Groups
As part of my review for Call of Cthulhu, 7th edition, I ran a game of it last week after finishing a first reading of the books. As I often do whenever I want to play a new game, I used Meetup to gather players in my area (Alexandria, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, D.C.). Meetup allows […]
Elder (Good) Signs: A Double Review of the Call of Cthulhu Corebooks
Before “storygames” and “simulationist RPGs,” before “crunchy” and “fluff,” there was Call of Cthulhu and Dungeons & Dragons. D&D was all about facing down monsters, gaining wealth and power, and telling epic fantasy stories. CoC was all about avoiding monsters, staying alive and sane, and telling chilling horror stories. D&D had tons of rules and had roots in minature wargamming; […]
World War Fhtagn: A Review of Achtung! Cthulhu: Investigator’s Guide
Alternate worlds provide heady potential for gaming groups. With a little knowledge and a wealth of imagination, you can turn something commonplace in an extraordinary gaming experience. Sometimes, those experiences go to dark places, but then we need to show some respect and understand the difference between reality and the fictional world. When it comes […]
On A Mud-Slick Road to Hell: Review of Dead Light
Survival horror in Cthulhu – the chances seem slim, right? I mean, without even saying the words ‘survival horror’, most people who play games based upon the entities of the Cthulhu Mythos probably don’t have anything like a 10 Year Plan or bother investing in a 5 Year Diary. Investigators into the Mythos probably wouldn’t […]
The anatomy of RPG adventures
Experienced tabletop gamers will know that certain games have certain patterns. It is possible to work out how close you are to the end of the game by comparing your actions against the anatomy of the adventure itself. The chart below shows seven popular RPG adventures that span a number of genres. Feel familiar to […]
