"Mysteries best left unsolved. Truths that shatter the mind."
The oldest and most renowned horror RPG in the world, first published in 1981 by Sandy Petersen. The 7th edition is the modern, polished version of this classic. The foundation is the percentile-based Basic Roleplaying (BRP) system: every skill has a percentage value, and to succeed you must roll under it on a d100. Simple, intuitive, elegant. But the heart of the game is not the dice. Call of Cthulhu is about investigation. You are not warriors or heroes. You are ordinary people — private detectives, professors, journalists — who have encountered something that should not exist. Every brush with the incomprehensible leaves scars: the Sanity mechanic tracks a character's slow descent into madness. Unlike D&D, where characters grow stronger, in Call of Cthulhu they deteriorate. This is not a power fantasy — it is a Greek tragedy at the gaming table, and that is exactly why the system has endured for over 40 years.
The classic setting is 1920s America — the jazz age, Prohibition, and secret cults. Gas lamps, the libraries of Miskatonic University, the fog-shrouded docks of Innsmouth. But Call of Cthulhu is not limited to a single era: official supplements cover Victorian England (Cthulhu by Gaslight), Ancient Rome (Cthulhu Invictus), the Middle Ages (Cthulhu Dark Ages), the modern day, and even the far future. Lovecraftian horror is timeless — the Great Old Ones waited billions of years before humanity appeared and will wait long after. The world is full of secret cults, forbidden tomes like the Necronomicon, and entities whose mere sight breaks the mind.
Sanity
A unique madness mechanic. Every encounter with the otherworldly costs Sanity points. At zero — the character is irreversibly insane. This is not mental HP — it is a slow, inevitable slide into madness with phobias, manias, and breakdowns.
Percentile system (d100)
Every skill is a number from 1 to 99. Roll d100 under it — success. Half the value is a Hard success, one-fifth is an Extreme success. No modifier tables — everything is intuitive.
Investigation
The heart of the game is not combat but gathering clues, interviewing witnesses, and studying ancient texts. Fighting is a last resort and almost always a bad idea. Mythos creatures are stronger than any human.
Pushed Rolls & Luck
Failed a roll? You can 'push' it — try again, but on a second failure the consequences are catastrophic. Luck points are a non-renewable resource for saving yourself at a critical moment.
Open in Session Zero to let every player vote and see the results.