The Call of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying in the Worlds of HP Lovecraft

Rather than cap off the quarter with another novel, my teacher chose instead to subject us to the horror of Cthulhu: oh was I was grateful for it.

The Call of Cthulhu: Horror Roleplaying in the Worlds of HP Lovecraft is unlike most tabletop RPGs, or so it's reputed to be (I haven't played many). It's based entirely around intellectual games - gathering evidence and getting closer and closer to solving a mystery rather than monsterwhacking. Not to say there's a total lack of monsterwhacking, it's just that in this game you typically run your ass off upon such an encounter rather than standing to fight. Take our game for example. There is no way under the deep blue heavens we would have been able to fight Yig and live. In fact, a great deal of emphasis is placed on the fact that in this game, an investigator (player) cannot "win." Instead, you have three options. One is to get out while you have the chance until forces beyond the stars come to confront you another day. Another is to go irrevocably insane and be institutionalized. The last is to die.

On that note, I think the most intriguing innovation of Call of Cthulhu is the concept of sanity points. Upon encountering disturbing things, if the Keeper (dungeon master) calls a sanity check and you fail, you start losing sanity points. If you lose enough of these suckers within a certain amount of time - or collectively - you end up doing things like going into catatonia, logorrhea, displaying "strange eating compulsions" (cannibalism, dirt, slime, whathave you), or displaying "strange sexual impulses" (exhibitionism, nymphomania/satyriasis, etc) just to name a few. For those of you who have played tabletop RPGs, there's a table for this. If there's no logical choice (or just for the sake of it) the keeper can have you roll a D10 for it. It's painful.

On an entirely different note, as of yet I think one of the most pleasant parts of tabletop roleplaying is character creation: you get to decide on so many aspects of your character - there's so much room for creativity! From home town to occupation to income to possessions, it's all there. After a little influence from the dice, the rest is up to the creator. Actually sending said character out into their little world can be problematic, because at that point it's out of your hands entirely and in those of the Keeper. A good Keeper is absolutely essential. I haven't yet tried to be a Keeper, but I can see it's a lot of work. For those of you out there who are, I salute you.

My first game experience with Call of Cthulhu was rough at best. However, there is hope: I'll be playing another game with a couple of friends soon, and hopefully it will be a little easier to move in. Until then, venture on, ladies and gentlemen.