Paul_Va Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 If I own the Basic Roleplaying core rulebook, and I have downloaded and read the Call of Cthulhu: Quickstart Guide is there any reason to buy the CoC book? Is everything in CoC in the BRP book? Quote You can follow me on Google+ here: https://www.google.com/+PaulVasquezE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickMiddleton Posted May 10, 2013 Share Posted May 10, 2013 (edited) If I own the Basic Roleplaying core rulebook, and I have downloaded and read the Call of Cthulhu: Quickstart Guide is there any reason to buy the CoC book? Is everything in CoC in the BRP book? If you want to run a Call of Cthulhu game, yes it's worth having. There's stats for mythos creatures, magic and books, plus general occult texts and a bunch if other stuff specifically tailored to that genre. Cheers, Nick Edited May 11, 2013 by NickMiddleton Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macamboy Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 It's worth having for all of the background material it contains. Worth picking up if you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seneschal Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 The rules make up only a fraction of the CoC book (which I personally think is a bit bloated at this point). The rest is background info, gamemaster advice, monster stats, the short story Call of Cthulhu, enough blather on Mythos tomes to choke a shuggoth, and three starting adventures, including an expanded version of the one you got in the Quick-Start rules. After warning you that using alien "magic" is a Really Bad and Foolish Idea, the book spends an inordinate amount of space on spells; strange, since the existing Mythos tomes listed so laboriously have had actual working spells removed from them (so how do evil wizards and misguided investigators learn them, anyhow?). Now, if you don't mind making up your own critters, you could certainly run an eldritch horror campaign using the Big Gold Book and the Cthulhu Quick-Start rules. After all, it isn't about game mechanics or Lovecraft-specific names and locations. It's about creating the mood and an intriguing mystery that will entice your player-characters into learning more than they want to about the Unknown. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seneschal Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 Another thing worth mentioning is what you don't get with the CoC core rulebook: a setting. You'll have to purchase The 1920s Investigator's Companion and/or one of the many (thick, well-done) location sourcebooks to get that. So while you can use the core rulebook to create a Lovecraftian mystery campaign, you'll have to get additional tomes to play in the bona fide Lovecraftian world. That disappointed me a bit as I skimmed CoC. It mentions playing in the 1920s, the 1800s, or the modern era but provides no guidance on doing so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Va Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 Another thing worth mentioning is what you don't get with the CoC core rulebook: a setting. You'll have to purchase The 1920s Investigator's Companion and/or one of the many (thick, well-done) location sourcebooks to get that. So while you can use the core rulebook to create a Lovecraftian mystery campaign, you'll have to get additional tomes to play in the bona fide Lovecraftian world. That disappointed me a bit as I skimmed CoC. It mentions playing in the 1920s, the 1800s, or the modern era but provides no guidance on doing so. OK, thank you for letting me know that because it's not obvious. That means it will be a significant financial investment if I decide to run a CoC campaign. Quote You can follow me on Google+ here: https://www.google.com/+PaulVasquezE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KjetilKverndokken Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 OK, thank you for letting me know that because it's not obvious. That means it will be a significant financial investment if I decide to run a CoC campaign. To be bloody honest - if you have the BRP book, get adventures or Campaign books. Its almost no job in tweaking it. Is the CoC book nice to have, yes, but thats about it - and if you can bother yourself to do a little bit of research on the setting era in adventure/campaign books (wikipedia and multitude of other sites) it gives you all you need to know. Get the CoC books along the way instead (they are superb books but far from necessary ) Quote Tea and Madness Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_Va Posted May 11, 2013 Author Share Posted May 11, 2013 I'm somewhat interested in the Japanese setting. Does anyone own a copy, and if so, how is the quality? Is it worth the money? Quote You can follow me on Google+ here: https://www.google.com/+PaulVasquezE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nclarke Posted May 11, 2013 Share Posted May 11, 2013 (edited) If you mean Secrets of Japan then it's not that highly rated by CoC aficionados but then 1990's CoC is generally less successful than the classic 1920's or Gaslight 1890's in terms of material. Delta Green is the goto setting for modern Cthulhu with a lot of well written material available and that is in the process of being updated to a more modern period than the 90's. Reviews http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11148.phtml and http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11256.phtml Edited May 11, 2013 by nclarke Quote Nigel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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