Call of Cthulhu Basic Rules – tl;dr edition Sample Occupations

ANTIQUARIAN — Appraise, Art/Craft (any), History, Library

Characteristics Use, Other Language, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast
1. Strength (STR) Talk, Intimidate, or Persuade), Spot Hidden, any one other
2. Constitution (CON) skill.
3. Power (POW) aka force of will, spirit, mental stability AUTHOR — Art (Literature), History, Library Use, Natural
4. Dexterity (DEX) World or Occult, Other Language, Own Language,
5. Appearance (APP) aka Charisma Psychology, any one other skill.
6. Size (SIZ) aka combined height & weight DILETTANTE — Art/Craft (Any), Firearms, Other Languages,
7. Intelligence (INT) Ride, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate, or
8. Education (EDU) aka Wisdom Persuade), any three other skills.
DOCTOR OF MEDICINE — First Aid, Other Language (Latin),
Medicine, Psychology, Science (Biology), Science (Pharmacy),
Put these wherever: 40, 50, 50, 50, 60, 60, 70, 80.
any two other skills as academic or personal specialties (e.g. a
psychiatrist might take Psychoanalysis).
Half and Fifth Values JOURNALIST — Art/Craft (Photography), History, Library
Take the value for each characteristic and halve it to get Use, Own Language, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast
the half value, and divide it by 5 to give the “fifth” Talk, Intimidate, or Persuade), Psychology, any two other
value (round down). skills.
POLICE DETECTIVE — Art/Craft (Acting) or Disguise,
Record the full/half/fifth values thusly: Firearms, Law, Listen, one interpersonal skill (Charm, Fast
STR 60 would be written on your sheet as 60 (30/12) Talk, Intimidate, or Persuade), Psychology, Spot Hidden, any
one other skill.
PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR — Art/Craft (photography),
Secondary Attributes Disguise, Law, Library Use, one interpersonal skill (Charm,
Luck, Damage Bonus, Hit Points, and Sanity are Fast Talk, Intimidate or Persuade), Psychology, Spot Hidden
determined after Characteristics. and any one other skill (e.g. Computer Use, Locksmith,
Firearms).
** Luck begins at 3d6x5. Roll a percentile under your PROFESSOR — Library Use, Other Language, Own Language,
score for luck to go your way. Psychology, any four other skills as academic, or personal
** Magic Points (MP) are equal to one-fifth POW. Use specialties.
this for magic bullshit. Regenerate I spent MP per hour.
Further expenditure is deducted directly from HP if you You now assign points to the skills on your sheet. No
hit 0 MP. DM’s choice what form of physical damage player can add points to the Cthulhu Mythos skill during
this takes. character creation, as it is assumed that all beginning
** Damage Bonus and Build: Build is a scale of characters are ignorant of the threat of the Mythos.
combined size and strength. You know what a damage Allocate the following values among the eight
bonus is. Use the table. Occupation Skills and also the Credit Rating skill: one at
70%, two at 60%, three at 50% and three at 40% (set
the skills directly to these values and ignore the skill
base values written next to each skill on your sheet).
After assigning points to the Occupation Skills, select
your Personal Interest Skills. These are skills that your
character has acquired outside of work. Pick four non-
occupation skills and boost them by 20% (adding 20 to
the skill base values listed on your sheet).
Write your skill values down in the same format as
** Hit Points (HP) SIZ + CON /10 rounded down. your Characteristics (full/half/fifth values) as you’ll
** Sanity (SAN) Same as POW score to start. Circle the need to refer to these during the game, and doing head
value that corresponds to this number on your sheet. maths slows the game down.
Roll under this number with % dice to not lose your shit
when the aliens show up. Example Character: ‘Soldier’ occupation.
8 skills: Climb, Dodge, Fighting, Firearms, Stealth, First Aid,
Occupation and Skills Survival, and Other Language.
Pick a job then choose eight skills that make sense for Skill values: Climb 60%, Credit Rating 40%, Dodge 60%,
said job. These are your “Occupation Skills”. Run this Fighting 70%, Firearms 50%, First Aid 40%, Other
by the DM first to make sure it’s not stupid. Language (Spanish) 50%, Stealth 50%, and Survival 40%.
4 hobby skills (raising each one by 20%): Drive Auto 40%,
Just want to hop in without pestering the DM? Have Jump 40%, Mechanical Repair 30%, and Spot Hidden 45%.
some pregens! Record them on your sheet next to the skill as full, half and
fifth values thusly: “Spot Hidden: 45 (22/9)”.
 Credit Rating Opposed Skill Rolls
An indicator of wealth and class. See the following: If two characters are opposing one another, or a
significant NPC, both sides make a skill roll and
Credit Rating 0 ... Hobo; living on the streets. compare their level of success. A Regular success beats
Credit Rating 1-9 ... McLife; possessing the bare minimum. a Fail, a Hard success beats a Regular success, an
Credit Rating 10-49 ... Middle Class; reasonably comfortable. Extreme success beats a Hard success. In the case of a
Credit Rating 50-89 ... Wealthy; some degree of luxury. draw, the side with the higher skill value wins. If both
Credit Rating 90-98 ... Batman; great wealth and luxury.
skills are equal then have both sides roll off; lowest
Credit Rating 99 ... Phandalinian*; money is no object.
wins.
Backstory
Who are you, where are you from, why are you here, and Bonus and Penalty Dice
how’d you get those skills? Doesn’t need to be a novel; (primarily for use with opposed dice rolls)
in fact, the book suggests “a short, pithy statement” will The DM may grant a ‘bonus die’ or a ‘penalty die’ to a
suffice, such as “Born and raised in Arkham”, “Never roll due to extenuating circumstances such as
without my trusty pistol”, or “Science can explain environmental hazards or time constraints. One bonus
everything”. die and one penalty die cancel each other out.
This is basically like advantage/disadvantage in D&D,
Final Touches but this time the extra die is a d10, and for a bonus
Make sure you have written down your character’s take the lower of the two d10, for a penalty take the
name, sex, and age, and have all the other info filled in. higher d10. For example:
Bonus: dice rolled were 40, 2, and 9; end result is 42.
Penalty: dice rolled were 50, 1, and 4; end result is 54.
Game System
Luck Rolls
Used to determine the fickle hand of fate. For example
Skill rolls are for dramatic situations, so walking down a if you’re scrambling for something to use as an
well-lit hallway won’t require dice, but running down a impromptu cudgel, want to know if the batteries are
rubble-strewn corridor with shoggoths chomping at your dead in a flashlight you found, or if you’d like a car to
heels will. drive past, if no other skill you have is more fitting, this
When you successfully roll a given skill, put a check is where Luck comes in. To succeed, roll equal to or
mark in the box next to it on your sheet. You can only less than your current Luck value.
get one check per skill at a time. At the end of the If the DM calls for a Group Luck roll, whoever has the
scenario, the DM will have you “roll for skill increases.” lowest Luck score among those present in the scene
Roll % dice against any checked skills. If you roll over makes the roll.
the value of the skill, you can then add 1d10 points to
the skill; the more you know about something, the
harder it is to learn anything new or get any better. Sanity (SAN)
On occasion, you may need to roll a test for a skill you It’s what you lose when you see some fucked up shit.
don’t have. In this case, use whichever characteristic fits Make a percentile roll against your current SAN. If you
the check best and roll it as if it’s a skill. roll over, lose a greater amount of SAN. If you roll
under, lose less or none. SAN loss is generally described
Skill Rolls and Difficulty Levels for an event in the format [Minimum Loss]/[Maximum
The DM will tell you when you should roll a skill check Loss]; for example “0/1d6” or “2/1d10.”
and what its target is. A regular task requires a roll of If a character loses 5 or more SAN in a single SAN
equal to or less than your skill value on % (a regular roll, they must roll %. They suffer major emotional
success). A difficult task requires a roll result equal to trauma and go temporarily insane for 1d10 hours if the
or less than half your skill value (a hard success). A task result is equal to or less than their INT. In this case, the
approaching the limits of human capability requires a knowledge of what horrors have transpired drives the
roll equal to or less than one-fifth of your skill value (an character into NPC territory briefly. The DM gets to
extreme success). control your next action as the fear takes hold; perhaps
If you can justify it, you can “Push” a failed skill roll you unwittingly scream or squeeze the trigger of your
allowing you to roll a second time, but if you fail this gun. The DM also gets to add a phobia or mania to
time, the DM gets to inflict a dire consequence upon your sheet (such as “fear of the dark”, “fear of confined
your character. spaces”, or “kleptomania”), or amends one of your
existing backstory entries.
While temporarily insane, the DM may present you
with hallucinations—is that a ghoul creeping up on you,
or is it just a homeless man asking for spare change? Is
*This document was originally created for a group of D&D players that turned Phandalin into an economic superpower after the events of Lost Mine of Phandelver.
the homeless man really a ghoul? You can ask to make Weapons and Damage
a ‘Reality Check’, aka a SAN roll, and if you’re ** Unarmed attacks (human): 1D3 + Damage Bonus
successful, you see through the hallucination, but if you ** Small knife: 1D4 + Damage Bonus
fail, you believe the hallucinations are real. ** Machete: 1D8 + Damage Bonus
The road to mental health is neither swift nor ** Small club: 1D6 + Damage Bonus
painless. You may have to check your character into an ** Baseball bat: 1D8 + Damage Bonus
** Handgun: 1D10
asylum or seek other forms of psychotherapy to regain
** Shotgun: 4D6 (close range) or 2D6; does not impale)
SAN. At the successful end of each scenario you should ** Rifle: 2D6+4
get a few points back as a reward.
As your SAN drops, your character becomes less and Attacks that achieve an extreme level of success do
less stable and his or her ability to function decreases. If more damage: blunt weapons deal max damage and max
you want the full SAN rules, buy the book, freeloaders. damage bonus (if any); impaling weapons (blades and
Ideally, your DM has that and can tell you how the SAN bullets… so “piercing” weapons) deal max weapon
do. damage plus damage bonus (if any) plus an additional
dice roll for the weapon’s damage (1d10 + 10 points of
Combat damage in the case of a handgun, for example).
Don’t. The best a person who is Fighting Back can achieve is
“regular” damage.
Seriously. Don’t.
Firearms Rules
…but if you must, here’s the mechanics for that: The person firing the gun makes a % roll and compares
the result with their Firearms skill.
Characters and NPCs act in order of their DEX scores,  Readied firearms act at DEX +50 for the purpose of
with the highest DEX acting first. determining the DEX turn order.
The duration of a combat round in Call of Cthulhu is  If firing 2 or 3 shots from a handgun in one round, apply
one penalty die to each shot.
best described as “long enough for everyone to take
 If you are at point-blank range (within one-fifth of your
one significant action.” The flow of the round DM
DEX in feet), you gain one bonus die on the skill roll.
discretion; hard and fast rules for movement and actions
Whenever you are shot at you may dive for cover,
are not part of the game. The DM should simply give
rolling against your Dodge skill. If successful, the
everyone a chance to do something quickly while being
attacker’s rolls to hit you are made with one penalty die.
aware of the narrative flow.
A character that opts to dive for cover forfeits the next
PCs have three combat skills: Dodge, Fighting, and
attack, regardless of success. If they have already
Firearms. The latter skills are made up of multiple
attacked this round, they forfeit their attack next round.
specializations, such as Fighting (Brawl) or Firearms
(Rifle/Shotgun). Specializations, if any, are decided
during character creation, when you allocate your
Fighting Maneuvers
Occupation and Hobby skill points. If a player describes a goal that is something other than
Note that the Fighting (Brawl) skill includes unarmed simply inflicting physical harm then it can be resolved
combat and the use of simple weapons like pocket with a “fighting maneuver”. A successful maneuver
knives and clubs. allows the character to achieve one thing, such as:
** Disarm an opponent.
You don’t get to “push” combat rolls; you simply ** Knock an opponent to the floor
make another attack next round. ** Seize and hold an opponent, whereupon the opponent
must apply one penalty die to his or her actions until he or
Fighting Rules for Close-Quarters Combat she breaks free.
A maneuver is treated the same way as a regular
When attacked you may choose to retaliate (attempt to
Fighting attack, using the Fighting (Brawl) skill. The
avoid, block, or parry an attack while making one of
opponent may dodge or fight back as usual.
your own) or dodge (attempt to avoid the attack
Compare the Build of the two combatants. If the
completely). Attacker and defender roll % and compare
character performing the maneuver has a smaller Build
their levels of success:
than their opponent then they take a penalty die for
** If retaliating, use your Fighting skill. You need to achieve a
higher level of success than your attacker. each point of difference (maximum two penalty dice).
** If you are dodging, use your Dodge skill. Your attacker If an opponent exceeds the attacker’s build by three
needs to achieve a higher level of success than you. or more, any fighting maneuvers are ineffective; the
attacker may be able to lay hands on their opponent,
The winning side takes no damage and will either inflict but lacks the strength and size required to take
damage on their opponent, or successfully dodge their advantage of their grip.
attack.
 Outnumbered Medicine can heal 1D3 hit points, but takes at least
When a character is outnumbered, once they have one hour and appropriate equipment and supplies. If
either fought back or dodged in the present combat Medicine is used on a dying character it does not confer
round, all subsequent melee attacks on them are made any immediate gain in hit points, but allows a healing
with one bonus die. This does not apply to attacks made roll at the end of one week.
using firearms. Basically, it’s Flanking/Pack Tactics.
Other Forms of Damage
Random events can hit you right in the ol’ HP box, and
Hit Points, Wounds, and Healing the DM can use this handy table to gauge how much
HP can’t fall below zero. When your character’s HP hurt to bring. Each injury type is for one incident or one
reaches zero, they’re unconscious and could die. combat round; one round of being punched by one
If you take more or equal to your full HP in a single attacker, one bullet, one round of drowning, one round
blow, you’re dead. of being burned. On each successive round exposed to
If you take half your full HP in a single blow, you the source of the harm, take further damage.
receive a major wound and must make a CON roll or
fall unconscious. If a character with a major wound falls
to 0 HP they are close to death (Dying). Make a Bouts of Madness
successful CON roll at the end of the following round Roll 1d10 to determine the madness. 1-8 last for 1d10
and every round thereafter or die. Only successful use rounds. 9 & 10 are permanent.
1. AMNESIA: You have no memory of events that have taken place
of the First Aid skill can alleviate the Dying condition. since last in a place of safety.
** Characters without a major wound heal 1 hit point per day. 2. PSYCHOSOMATIC DISABILITY: You suffer temporary blindness,
** Characters with a major wound make a healing roll (using deafness, or loss of use of a limb(s).
CON) at the end of each week. If successful, they regain 1D3 3. VIOLENCE: attack allies and foes alike.
hit points, or 2D3 for an extreme success. The major wound 4. PARANOIA: Everyone is out to get you and reality is fake.
condition is removed if either an extreme success is rolled or 5. SIGNIFICANT PERSON: Mistake an NPC in the scene for a
current hit points are healed to half their maximum value or significant person from your backstory and act accordingly.
greater. 6. FAINT: You’re unconscious.
7. FLEE IN PANIC: Get as far away as quickly as possible!
First Aid can heal 1 hit point. If First Aid is used on a 8. PHYSICAL HYSTERICS OR EMOTIONAL OUTBURST: You’re
dying character it does not confer any immediate gain in incapacitated in a fit of laughing, crying, screaming, etc.
hit points, but extends the characters life so that the 9. PHOBIA: Gain a new phobia. Even if the source of the phobia is
Medicine skill can use used. not present, you imagine it is for the next 1d10 rounds.
10. MANIA: Gain a new mania (compulsion) and seek to indulge in
it for the next 1d10 rounds.