HOW TO PLAY CALL OF
CTHULHU
“How to Play Call of Cthulhu 7E (Tabletop RPG)” by Don’t Stop Thinking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS1cni6K304&list=PLJmFJXf3BXjx-HGqco2c1BXUQnRlYmkZQ
Contents
STANDARD SKILL ROLL ............................................................................................................................ 3
Combined Roll ..................................................................................................................................... 3
Opposed Roll: ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Skill Success Levels .............................................................................................................................. 4
PUSH AND LUCK ...................................................................................................................................... 4
Push Roll.............................................................................................................................................. 4
Spend Luck .......................................................................................................................................... 4
Bonus & Penalty Dice .......................................................................................................................... 4
CHARACTERISTICS ................................................................................................................................... 5
Skills: ................................................................................................................................................... 5
TURN ORDER ........................................................................................................................................... 6
ACTIONS .................................................................................................................................................. 6
Types of Actions .................................................................................................................................. 6
Attack .................................................................................................................................................. 6
Attack - Fight Back............................................................................................................................... 6
Attack - Dodge..................................................................................................................................... 7
Attack – Do nothing ............................................................................................................................ 7
Fighting Manoeuvre ............................................................................................................................ 7
Run ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
Other Actions ...................................................................................................................................... 8
Giving / Taking Damage ...................................................................................................................... 8
RECOVERY ............................................................................................................................................... 8
UNCONSCIOUS / DYING .......................................................................................................................... 8
Unconscious ........................................................................................................................................ 8
Dying ................................................................................................................................................... 8
Projectile Weapon Skill Categories ..................................................................................................... 9
Point-Blank Range ............................................................................................................................... 9
Defender Options Against Projectile Attacks...................................................................................... 9
Range Difficulty ................................................................................................................................. 10
Bonus and Penalty Dice for Gun Fights ............................................................................................. 10
Half-Damage Bonuses ....................................................................................................................... 11
Common Gunfight-Specific Actions: ................................................................................................. 11
Full Auto Fire ..................................................................................................................................... 11
RELOADING AND MALFUNCTIONS........................................................................................................ 12
Reloading .......................................................................................................................................... 12
Malfunctions ..................................................................................................................................... 12
MISSILES, ARMOUR, AND THROWING .................................................................................................. 12
INSANITY BASICS ................................................................................................................................... 13
Sanity Roll.......................................................................................................................................... 13
Types of Insanity ............................................................................................................................... 13
Treatment Types for Indefinite Insanity: .......................................................................................... 14
BOUT OF MADNESS............................................................................................................................... 15
PHOBIA AND MANIA ......................................................................................................................... 15
Phobia ............................................................................................................................................... 15
Mania ................................................................................................................................................ 15
DELUSION .............................................................................................................................................. 15
METHODS OF REGAINING SANITY ........................................................................................................ 16
HP & WOUND RECOVERY...................................................................................................................... 16
HP Recovery Process ......................................................................................................................... 16
Major Wounds Recovery .................................................................................................................. 17
Magic (MP) Recovery ........................................................................................................................ 17
IMPROVING INVESTIGATOR SKILLS ....................................................................................................... 17
GAINING LUCK....................................................................................................................................... 18
Basic Rules, Characteristics, & Skills
STANDARD SKILL ROLL
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Put a check mark next to a skill if you succeed in them without using any luck. Can improve
them at end of scenario/chapter.
Lower you roll, the better your result. Want to get a result under your skill level.
Extra options when performing a standard skill roll:
o Push roll
o Spend luck
Combined Roll
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Roll once, use result for all skills used.
Depending on situation, may need to succeed in one or all the skills.
Opposed Roll:
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Compare success level of Player & NPC/Enemy
o Better level of success wins.
o If tied, higher skill number wins.
Cannot push rolls.
Skill Success Levels
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Fumble:
o Skill under 50 =
o Skill 50 and over =
Failure
Success
Hard Success
Extreme Success
Critical Success
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Hard & extreme success numbers are rounded down.
Fumble - Keeper can deal extra punishment.
96 – 100
100
Above skill number
Under skill number
1/2
1/5
1%
PUSH AND LUCK
Push Roll
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2nd chance at a standard roll.
Failure gives consequences of a fumbled roll.
Cannot push: Combat, sanity, & luck rolls.
Spend Luck
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Can use luck even if succeeded a roll to make it better.
Cannot use luck points for: Luck rolls, damage, sanity, & sanity loss.
Luck may be needed for other game events – use it wisely.
Bonus & Penalty Dice
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Bonus Dice:
Use the best (lowest) tens position dice.
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Penalty Dice:
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Bonus and penalty dice cancel each other out.
Only advised to use bonus/penalty dice for opposed rolls.
Use the worst (highest) tens position dice.
CHARACTERISTICS
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50 is benchmark for average person.
Sometimes asked to roll characteristics instead of skills.
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Strength (STR):
o Self-explanatory.
Dexterity (DEX):
o Maintain balance and perform other delicate tasks.
Constitution (CON):
o Health and stamina.
o Used to resist against poison and feinting.
Appearance (APP):
o Looks and personality.
o Get someone’s attention, etc.
Size (SIZ):
o Used for character creation.
Willpower (POW):
o Determines starting sanity.
o Sometimes used to fight against spells or resist temptation.
Education (EDU):
o Book smarts.
Intelligence (INT):
o Too smart is bad. When losing certain amount of sanity, must roll INT.
▪ Succeed:
Experience bout of madness.
▪ Fail:
Too stupid to understand the cosmic horror.
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Skills:
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Useful skills to have:
o First Aid
▪ Best in critical situations. Will use this a lot.
o Medicine
▪ Takes 1 in-game hour to perform. Use in conjunction with first aid.
o Spot Hidden
o Listen
o Library use
Combat
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Lower you roll, the better your result.
Movement not important like in D&D.
Different types of fighting skills. E.g., sword, axe, spear, chainsaw.
o For simple/improvised weapons & unarmed (e.g., bat or knife) use Fighting (Brawl).
o Improvised get stats approx. to weapons list. Decided by keeper.
TURN ORDER
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Compare dexterity. Turn order ranked from highest to lowest.
If dex is tied, compare main fighting skill. E.g., Fighting (Brawl) skill.
ACTIONS
Types of Actions
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Attack
Fighting Manoeuvre
Run
Other Actions
Spell
Attack
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Attacker and defender make a fighting skill roll.
Successful hit: Weapon damage + Damage Bonus.
Defender can choose to fight back/dodge.
Landing a hit with an extreme success when attacking on the player’s own turn creates
extreme damage.
o Player does maximum possible damage roll – base damage and damage bonus.
Sharp weapons can do impale damage (1D4).
o Also get to roll weapon damage again and add it to the total.
Attack - Fight Back
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When being attacked, player and NPC can fight back.
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Opponent needs better success level when fighting back.
o Defender gets lower priority. I.e. PC success > NPC success.
o If defender succeeds, they deal damage instead of attacker. Defender takes no
damage.
Attack - Dodge
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Defender needs equal or better success level when dodging.
If defender is attacked my multiple enemies, they are outnumbered.
o Every subsequent attacker gets a bonus tens position dice when rolling their fighting
skill.
o No penalty die for defender.
o Exception: Enemies that can attack multiple times per round cannot be
outnumbered until there are more opponents than their number of attacks.
▪ E.g., Enemy with 3 attacks needs 4 opponents to be outnumbered.
If defender is attacked multiple times in a turn by an enemy with multiple attacks, they are
outnumbered.
Attack – Do nothing
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An enemy attacking a defender that does nothing will succeed the attack on anything except
a fumble.
Fighting Manoeuvre
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Uses Fighting(Brawl) skill.
Acts the same as an attack but applies improvised effect on target instead of damage.
o E.g., grabbing, tripping, disarming, shoving off something.
If attacker’s build is less than defender, attacker gets a penalty dice (tens position) for each
size smaller.
o Cannot use a manoeuvre when 3 sizes smaller than defender.
o Having a larger build gives no bonuses.
Defender must use a fighting manoeuvre on their turn to dispel attacker’s action if relevant,
e.g., being restrained.
o If opponent (previous attacker) dodges fighting manoeuvre, defender retains their
status issue.
Run
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If escape route exists and player isn’t restrained, can flee the fight.
Other Actions
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Non-combat actions, such as giving First Aid during a fight.
Giving / Taking Damage
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When an attack does half or more of total health, player/NPC is dealt a major wound,
knocked prone, and must make constitution rolls.
o If player fails a constitution roll, they are knocked unconscious.
When investigator or enemy receives damage equal to or greater than total health in one
hit, they die instantly.
Sharp weapons can do impale damage (1D4).
RECOVERY
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Can only receive first aid and medicine once after every instance in which you take damage.
Major wounds are recovered when the investigator returns to half their maximum hit
points or above.
First Aid: Have 1 hour after combat to apply.
o Recovers 1 hit point.
o Must succeed First Aid roll.
Medicine: Have 1 day to apply.
o Difficulty increases after 1 day.
o Takes an hour to apply medicine.
o Recovers 1-3 hit points (1D3).
UNCONSCIOUS / DYING
Unconscious
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Player is knocked unconscious when brought to zero hit points if they have no major
wound.
o Will not die.
o Can be brought back to consciousness by first aid.
Dying
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Player is dying if they reach zero hit points with a major wound.
o Must make a constitution roll at every turn. Death on failure.
Stop dying by:
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Stabilize with First Aid.
▪ Gives 1 temporary hit point.
▪ Without proper medical attention (Medicine or hospital), player still needs
to make a constitution roll every turn.
▪ Fail constitution roll, restart process. I.e., need first aid applied again.
Treat with Medicine or bring to a good hospital within 1 hour.
Combat – Gunfights
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When starting combat and determining fight order:
o Players with their gun already prepared get +50 DEX.
o Only if their action involves shooting with their gun.
Projectile Weapon Skill Categories
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Firearm
▪ Uses Firearm(weapon type here) skill.
▪ Handguns, Rifle/Shotgun, Submachine Gun, Machine Gun, etc.
Missile
▪ Firearm(Bow) skill.
▪ Things like bows, crossbows, etc.
Thrown
▪ Uses Throw skill.
▪ Spears, rocks, grenades, etc.
Point-Blank Range
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Attacker is in ( Attacker’s DEX / 5 = range in feet ) of opponent.
Opens attacker to being disarmed.
On next turn:
▪ Attacker still in point-blank range gets penalty dice (firing into melee).
Moving out of point-blank range uses normal DEX, not the boosted gun-ready
version.
▪ Must succeed dodge skill roll during their normal turn.
Other attackers firing into a melee also get penalty dice (firing into melee).
▪ Fumble hits an ally engaged in melee.
Defender Options Against Projectile Attacks
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Can’t use luck to defend against a bullet that’s about to hit you.
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I.e., Can’t fight back and use luck to dodge a bullet.
Firearm:
o Defender cannot dodge.
▪ Must dive for cover.
o Cannot fight back.
o Cannot perform a fighting manoeuvre.
Missile:
o Defender cannot dodge.
▪ Must dive for cover.
o Can fight back if attacker is in defender’s point-blank range.
o Can perform a fighting manoeuvre if attacker is in defender’s point-blank range.
Thrown:
o Defender can dodge.
o Can fight back if attacker is in defender’s point-blank range.
o Can perform a fighting manoeuvre if attacker is in defender’s point-blank range.
Range Difficulty
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Range is listed in the weapon stats.
Difficulty levels:
o Regular distance (Regular Success):
Base range
o Long range (Hard Success):
Base range x 2
o Very long range (Critical Success):
Base range x4
▪ Get extreme impale dmg on critical success
Bonus and Penalty Dice for Gun Fights
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Bonus:
o Aim 1 round
o Point blank
o Large target (build 4+)
Penalty:
o Target dives for cover
o Partial (50%+) concealment
o Small target (Build -2)
o Having to load and then fire
o Multiple shots with single-shot weapons (e.g., written as “Attacks: 1(3)”)
▪ Multi-shot weapons firing more than once at same target don’t have a
penalty. (e.g., written as “Attacks: 1 or 2”).
o Fast targets
o Firing into melee
Half-Damage Bonuses
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Negative bonuses:
o -2 becomes -1
o -1 becomes 0
o 0 remains a 0
Bonus dice:
o Halve the type of dice.
o E.g., 1D4 = 1D2, 1D6 = 1D3.
Common Gunfight-Specific Actions:
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Other actions → Aiming
o Get “Aim 1 round” bonus tens position dice.
o Don’t fire this round, but the next.
Dive for cover:
o Defender needs to succeed their Dodge skill roll.
▪ Apply penalty tens position dice (diving for cover penalty).
o If defender succeeds, opponent gets penalty tens position dice.
▪ Other opponents also get penalty dice during the same round while
defender is in cover.
o Defender forfeits action on next turn when diving for cover.
▪ Forfeit regardless of success or failure.
Number of shots available:
o E.g., handgun with “1(3)” on character sheet can be shot up to three times per
round.
▪ Gives “Multiple shot” penalty tens position dice.
Disarming a gun-wielder:
o Opponent can roll to disarm attacker on their next turn (fighting manoeuvre).
▪ Person being disarmed becomes engaged in melee combat.
o Gun-wielder can fight back, but not shoot with the firearm.
▪ Can’t shoot but can smack people with it.
Full Auto Fire
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Full auto weapons take ages to work out shots. Use these sparingly.
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Steps in firing a fully automatic weapon:
o Number of bullets to fire.
▪ Minimum volley is 3, maximum is magazine size.
o Determine volley size.
▪ Minimum number of bullets in a volley is 4.
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Maximum in a volley is user’s Firearms(particular weapon) skill / 10, rounded
down.
Pick targets.
▪ Decide how many volleys at each target.
▪ Determine distance between targets for wasted bullets.
• One bullet wasted per yard.
Make skill rolls.
▪ Roll for volley success using relevant firearm skill.
▪ If volley hits, does damage equal to half the number of bullets, rounded
down.
• Bullet damage = weapon damage.
If target has armour, reduce damage for each successful bullet hit.
RELOADING AND MALFUNCTIONS
Reloading
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Reloading takes an action on your turn.
Two options for reloading:
o Normal reload:
▪ Spend 1 combat turn to load 2 bullets / 2 shells / 1 clip.
o Load & shoot:
▪ Spend 1 combat turn to load 1 bullet/shell & shoot with penalty tens
position dice.
Malfunctions
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Each type of gun has their own malfunction range and rules. Refer to manual for specifics.
MISSILES, ARMOUR, AND THROWING
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Armour:
o Full body-armour reduces incoming damage from all sides.
o Piecemeal armour only reduces damage if wearer succeeds a Luck skill roll.
Missiles:
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Thrown weapons:
o Thrown weapon base range is STR / 5 = range in feet.
o If attacker fails Throw skill roll, weapon lands in random distance from target.
▪ Level of failure determines where (decided by keeper).
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Distance from target will alter the amount of damage done.
Insanity
INSANITY BASICS
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Sanity loss is permanent.
Whatever the player’s current sanity level, that’s what is used for a sanity skill roll.
o E.g., a character started out with a Sanity (50) skill. They lose 6 points.
▪ New skill number is now Sanity(44).
If you go permanently insane, game over for the player.
o Keeper may use the character as NPC in other parts of the game.
Dumber your character, less chance they go insane.
Note down how much sanity you lose to specific Cthulhu mythos creatures on character
sheet.
o Located under “Encounters with Strange Entities” section.
If insanity (temporary or indefinite) is mythos-related:
o Gain 5 Cthulhu Mythos skill points (if skill is currently 0).
▪ Gain 1 point for every subsequent instance when skill is > 0.
o Each Mythos skill point reduces maximum sanity by that amount.
Sanity Roll
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Roll for your Sanity skill, using your current sanity number – not what you started the game
with.
Failing a sanity roll:
o Keeper determines what type of dice (e.g. 1D8) must be rolled to determine sanity
loss.
o If player loses 5+ sanity, they experience a bout of madness.
Succeeding a sanity roll:
o Keeper may still decide that some sanity is lost.
Types of Insanity
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Temporary insanity:
o Duration:
▪ 1D10 Hours
o Cause:
▪ Lose 5+ sanity and succeed an INT roll.
o Cure:
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▪ Automatically recover after a good sleep or end of duration.
Lose more sanity during this time:
▪ Trigger another bout of madness.
Phobias/manias can be developed.
Delusions can occur.
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Indefinite insanity:
o Duration:
▪ Scenario End / Treatment
o Cause:
▪ Lose 1/5 of sanity in a day from whatever you had at the start of the day.
▪ Don’t need to roll INT skill for this.
o Cure:
▪ Automatically recover at end of scenario/chapter, or after a month of
successful treatment and successful sanity roll (longer games).
o Takes precedence over temporary insanity if players get both at the same time.
o Phobias and manias can activate.
o Lose more sanity during this time:
▪ Trigger another bout of madness.
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Permanent insanity:
o Duration:
▪ Roll up a new character, buddy.
Treatment Types for Indefinite Insanity:
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Private Care:
o Better chance for successful treatment.
Institution:
o Lower chance for successful treatment.
Method of treatment:
o Treatment roll after 1 month, based on treatment type (see book).
o Successful roll:
▪ Gain 1D3 sanity and make a sanity roll.
▪ After sanity roll:
• Success – Indefinite insanity cured.
• Failure – Nothing happens.
o Failed roll:
▪ Nothing happens or lose more sanity.
BOUT OF MADNESS
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When confronted by a horror, players must make a sanity skill roll.
o Failing the roll gives 1D6 loss to sanity points.
Must roll intelligence skill if player lost 5 or more sanity points in one go.
o Fail the roll (roll higher than skill level):
▪ Too stupid to understand the cosmic horror. No bout of madness.
o Succeed the roll (roll under skill level):
▪ Suffer bout of madness.
Suffering a of madness:
o Roll D10 to determine type of madness. Determined by keeper.
▪ Different types have different effects.
o Roll D10 to determine number of combat rounds affected by madness.
If player is alone:
o In addition to madness type, keeper can roll 1D10 for how long they disappear.
▪ When player regains their senses, they may have done things they don’t
remember.
PHOBIA AND MANIA
Phobia
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List of phobias in keeper’s rulebook.
While insane and subjected to a phobia, player has a penalty for all actions other than
fighting, fleeing, sanity and reality checks.
Investigators will be debilitated in the presence of their phobias.
o Remain in effect even after temporary insanity passes, but don’t give penalties.
More for role-play effect and determining character actions.
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Mania
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Players will be debilitated if they do not indulge in the object of their mania in its presence.
o Not indulging will cause rolls to be made with a penalty.
DELUSION
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Not all delusions are necessarily bad in nature.
Successful Psychoanalysis skill roll by another player may also end delusion.
Must make a reality check using a Sanity skill roll.
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Success:
▪ Illusion will be dispelled.
▪ Can’t be affected by another delusion until player loses more sanity points.
o Failure:
▪ Lose a sanity point
▪ Failure while temporarily insane means another bout of madness.
If delusion is still in sight at the end of a bout of madness, player has to make a sanity roll as
if the delusion was real (i.e. a horror).
Improvements and Recovery
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See rulebook for modifiers based on character aging (e.g., turning 20 or 40).
METHODS OF REGAINING SANITY
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End of scenario/chapter:
o Keeper can decide that indefinite insanity can be automatically cured at the end of a
scenario/chapter, but not sanity points.
Method of regaining sanity:
o Complete the scenario/chapter with a good outcome.
▪ More you accomplish, the more you can recover.
o Increase a skill to 90 or over.
Undergo psychoanalysis.
o Can only be done once a month.
o Self-help.
▪ Done during downtime, and by exploring/roleplaying character backstory.
▪ Make a Sanity roll.
• Success gives 1D6 sanity back.
• Failure takes 1 sanity point.
HP & WOUND RECOVERY
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Automatically regain one hit point per day.
o If player receives major wound, won’t recover any HP via daily bonus until wound is
healed.
HP Recovery Process
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At the end of an in-game week, can make a recovery roll using your CON skill.
Results of CON roll:
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o Fumble:
Keeper decides bad outcome
o Failure:
No recovery
o Success:
Recover 1D3 HP
o Extreme Success:
Recover 2D3 HP, major wounds healed.
Possible bonus dice:
o Bonus dice for resting in comfortable environment.
o Caregiver succeeds Medicine skill roll.
▪ Can only be made once at the end of the week.
Possible penalty dice:
o Staying in a poor-quality environment.
o Caregiver fumbles their medicine skill.
Major Wounds Recovery
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Methods of recovering from major wound:
o Recover half of max HP.
▪ E.g., first aid and medicine.
o Extreme success on recovery roll.
Magic (MP) Recovery
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Rate of MP recovery:
o POW 0-99:
o POW 100-199
o POW 200-299
1 MP per hour
2MP per hour
3MP per hour
IMPROVING INVESTIGATOR SKILLS
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End of a chapter/scenario, players enter the investigator development phase.
Skills that were successfully used without resorting to luck can attempt to be improved.
Improvement steps:
o Make a skill roll for the desired skill.
o Increase the skill if you roll above it.
▪ 1D10 skill increase.
Note: Rolling over is usually considered a failure, but in this case, you discover
something you don’t already know and gain skill in it.
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▪ Higher your skill gets, the lower your chance to improve it.
When a skill is increased to 90 or above:
o Gain 2D6 sanity
o Raised sanity comes from the confidence boost in mastering your skills.
GAINING LUCK
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Make a luck improvement roll at the end of every session. Same method as skill
improvement roll.