Free Quick Start
Details (7th Edition)
Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Product Code: CHA23131
Publishing Year: 2013
Pages: 48
Cover Price: PDF: Free (printed version $9.95)
Author(s): Sandy Peterson Paul Fricker Mike Mason Lynn Willis
Artist(s): Alberto Bontempi and Rachel Kahn, scenario floor-plan by Sandy Petersen(?)
Setting(s): 1920s Lovecraft Country (default)
Format(s): PDF and Softcover
ISBN: 9781568823881
Contents
Scenarios: The Haunting
Additional: Introduction, Quick-Start Rules, Player Handouts
Front Cover Text
Call of Cthulhu
Seventh Edition Quick-Start Rules
Sandy Peterson | Paul Fricker | Mike Mason | Lynn Willis
Chaosium Inc.
Back Cover Text
Horror Roleplaying in the Worlds of H.P. Lovecraft
The Great Old Ones ruled the earth aeons before the rise of humankind. Originally they came from the gulfs of space and were cast down by even greater beings. Remains of their cyclopean cities and forbidden knowledge can still be found on remote islands in the Pacific, buried amid the shifting sands of vast deserts, and in the frigid recesses of the polar extremes. Now they sleep — some deep within the enveloping earth and others beneath the eternal sea, in the drowned city of R'lyeh, preserved in the waters by the spells of mighty Cthulhu. When the stars are right they will rise, and once again walk this Earth.
Welcome to Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Quick-Start Rules, a booklet that collects the essential rules for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition and presents them in abbreviated form.
This book comprises a complete basic roleplaying game system, a framework of rules aimed at allowing players to enact a sort of improvisational radio theater—only without microphones—and with dice determining whether the characters succeed or fail at what they attempt to do. In roleplaying games, one player takes on the role of the gamemaster (or Keeper, in Call of Cthulhu), while the other player(s) assume the roles of player characters (investigators, in Call of Cthulhu) in the game. The gamemaster also acts out the roles of characters who aren’t being guided by players: these are called non-player characters (NPCs).
From its origin, Call of Cthulhu was designed to be intuitive and easy to play. Character attributes follow a 3D6 curve, and the other Call of Cthulhu mechanics are even simpler. Virtually all rolls determining success or failure of a task are determined via the roll of percentile dice. This means that there’s less fiddling with dice of different types, and the concept of a percentile chance of success is extremely easy for beginners and experienced players to grasp.
Use this booklet to play Call of Cthulhu immediately, and to discover the improvements to the system. Games rules, an updated character sheet, and a classic adventure are included.
By Sandy Petersen, Mike Mason, Paul Fricker, and Lynn Willis. 48 pages, a perfect-bound paperback.
Comments / Trivia
- Several versions and editions of this Free Quick Start exist, dating back at least as far as the 6th Edition, with unmarked revisions made occasionally throughout the guide's existence; for best results, download the latest version of the guide.
- The 7th Edition version of "The Haunting" scenario has been rewritten from the ground up for readability, usability, and conformity with 7th Edition formatting, but is mechanically almost identical to the 5th Edition version of the scenario, differing only in characteristics being 5x higher - essentially, earlier versions of the scenario can be used as-is with 7th Edition rules with only a quick recalculation of a handful of statistics.
- "The Haunting" has been revised numerous times; the sixth edition version included links to a number of other Chaosium products, giving it built-in hooks to other scenarios and supplements, but these hooks were removed for the 7th Edition.
- Keepers may find that the QuickStart guide, as written, is not suitable for players, as the scenario and map includes spoilers. Keepers may wish to edit a player-friendly version of the handbook for player use; a fan-made version of such an edited guide does exist.
Links
Link to outside reviews
- (review needed)
Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only
Players should not read any further.
Comment here to Keepers about this book. Comments on specific Scenarios and Campaigns go on their respective pages. Keep DISCUSSION on the talk page.