To be honest this is my second purchase of this book. I picked up this and the investigators handbook for Fantasy Grounds Unity. Me and my groyp were having so much fun playing it I wanted to get a copy of the digital version. Great the scan was clean and it looks nice. I have since picked up the hard copy of the books, but I still keep this in my dropbox, so if we want to play we can.

Call of Cthulhu is and has always been a fantastic RPG. The newest 7th edition is a nearly perfect RPG. I could not give this 5 stars for two reasons. There are two updates to the rules that I absolutely abhor and I wish they had not done in 7e.

Bonus/Penalty Dice: This is clearly a D&D5e ripoff of the advantage/disadvantage system. Chaosium's implementation is overly convoluted. "Roll percentile dice then reroll only the 10's die, choosing higher/lower 10's". Ridiculous. Why not just reroll the percentile dice? Or, better yet, lets not even use this dumb rule at all. If an investigator deserves an advantage or disadvantage merely award a +/- 10% to the roll. I absolutely hate the Bonus/Penalty dice mechanic. It takes an otherwise a great game system and makes it clunky. I wish at the very least that this had been made an OPTIONAL rule.

Stats changed to percentiles: Whats wrong with a STR score of 3 to 18? After 6 editions why change it be 01 to 100? This seems like an arbitrary change made to create the illusion of an "overhaul" of a system that worked great before. This change was completely unnecessary.

Other than those two things, its a fantastic game. Heres to hoping they fix those garbage changes in the 8th edition.

Call of Cthulhu is one of the oldest and (in my opinion) best role-playing games out there. It has withstood the test of time, having been around for over 3 decades. Where most games are about heros gaining power and finding treasure, this game is about ordinary people fighting for their lives and sanity against extradimensional monsters. It turns the standard RPG format on its head, making it one of the best role-playing games out there. Based on the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, this game (run by a 'keeper') pits the players (investigators) against the ancient evils of Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos. The 7th edtion of Call of Cthulhu carries on the tradition of the game, but with some modifications to the rules that we've seen in previous editions.

Though this book is longer than previous editions at over 400 pages, the setting information has been paired down to the 1920s and modern day, leaving out the rules for 1890s-era games that were present in earlier editions. A few other small things are missing, such as a few spells (no Hands of Calubra, for example), and the seminal adventure 'The Haunting', which is available in the 7th edition Quick Start Guide. Call of Cthulhu has been known for making small rule changes in each new edition, but 7th edition brings some rather big changes. Skills such as 'punch' and 'headbutt' have been folded into the 'fight' skill. That's a good thing for a game that's not particularly combat-heavy. As well, players now have the option to 'push' their roles after a bad role to try to eke out a victory with a very high cost for failure. It potentally adds more dice rolling, but it can make for interesting story-telling. Failing a pushed roll while casting a spell, for example, can have horrible consequences--but it can really make the game memorable. As well, players now roll for a level of success based on their percentile in a skill/attribute. The resistance table is now gone, and opposed rolls only need compare successes. This can really streamline game play. Another welcomed change is that of rules for chase sequences, which is something that Call of Cthulhu really needs, given how often characters need to run from horrible monsters. Though these are probably among the biggest mechanical changes to the game in its history, they keep the spirit of the game and add a bit more to it. Not to mention that this edition has lots of alernate rules scattered throughout to be used at the Keeper's discretion.

There is one subtle, but noteworthy addition to the game--it's expanded character creation system. There are now tables of background options that help players flesh out their characters who must deal with a personal history that plays a part in the struggle to maintain their sanity later in the game. Though not a big strict mechanical addition, it impacts gameplay and certainly brings more role-playing to the game. Unfortunately for players, the game has not necessarily gotten any less lethal, so the sting of losing a Call of Cthulhu character (not an uncommon occurence) may just be greater in this new edition.

Overall, this is another great addition to the Call of Cthulhu gaming system. The game still has the same basic feel of the game that's been around for 30 years, but with a system that benefits from some significant updates. It's a great game for veterans and new players alike. We look forward to reviewing more of Chaosium's books for 7th edition Call of Cthulhu.

Read the whoe review at GeeksAGogo.com!

My personal favourite RPG system. Sanity system is a masterwork, character creation is intuitive and easy, combat is very good considering that this is an investigative game, a lot of examples and tables help both master and players get around. Also, your world, your history books, an article on a newspaper can be easy and effective inspiration for your adventures. (7 Ed is the first I played of CoC)

Ring Side Report- RPG Review of Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition

Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea everyday!

Product- Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition System-Call of Cthulhu Producer-Chaosium Price- $30.00 here http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/150997/Call-of-Cthulhu-7th-Edition--Keepers-Rulebook?affiliate_id=658618 TL; DR-Great RPG with an ok execution. 85%

Basics- ia ia cthulhu fhtagn! Call of Cthulhu is back with the newest edition of the classic horror RPG. It’s got a new update, a new hardcover, and a new look. Let's see How it stacks up to the current stack of other RPGS!

Mechanics or Crunch-Let’s break this one down into a few different areas.

Base Mechanics- This is a classic percentile dice based game. Much like any other RPG, when you are told you need to roll the dice, you roll percentile dice (d100). The goal is to roll under your skill or ability. An example would be trying to read an ancient Egyptian manuscript. You would see if you have the skill Language(Ancient Egyptian). If you do, you can roll your d100. If you roll under, you roll succeed. It’s quick and simple.

Additions that are new to the system (or at least to me)-CoC 7th edition my first edition of Call of Cthulhu . What this system does instead of modifying your percentage in a skill or ability like other systems is the use of ½ and ⅕ skills. If the test is difficult, you may be asked to roll under ½ your skill. If the task is amazingly difficult, then you have to roll under ⅕. Again, it's a quick and easy way of executing difficulty .

Pushing- Let’s say you fail, but you want to try again. You want to steal a wallet. You fail once, but you think you could do it again. This is called a push. When you push, you get to reroll a skill. Failing to steal the wallet is bad as you might get caught. BUT, if you push, you might get the wallet and not get caught. HOWEVER, if you push and fail, then it get really bad. Maybe instead of pushing you off as a harmless carpetbagger, the target of the theft calls the cops and starts swinging immediately instead of just yelling loudly. It’s a great addition to the risk and reward of Call of Cthulhu. Also note-you may never push in combat. Speaking of which….

Combat-Combat is quick. There is no initiative. You have an statistic called dexterity (dex). Combat resolves from high to low dex. Each turn you can move a bit and then do one action. Just like the base mechanic it’s roll under. If I want to attack, I roll under an attack skill, and the target tries to roll under a dodge or counter attack skill. If we both succeed , then we look if both are under ½. If that happens, we check to see if we’re under ⅕. If that happens, the defender wins. Each character only has a few hit points and damage adds up quickly, so combat is deadly fast! I love quick and efficient systems.

Bonus and Penalty Dice- Many other percentile based systems have modifiers you add or subtract from a skill. Call of Cthulhu 7ed doesn't do this, but It uses something similar to DnD 5th edition advantage system with bonus and penalty dice. When a situation is particularly good like doing research on ancient Egyptian mythology in at the University of Cairo’s Egyptology department library, you would get an extra d10 die. You roll this die along with your other percentile die and use the lower of the 10 position dice. Penalty dice work exactly the opposite. Say you are trying to decipher a deep one script while riding across the countryside in the dark avoiding horrors from beyond time and space, you get an extra d10 die. Now, you get the higher of the two dice as you have a harder time doing the skill. Of all the things I’ve seen develop in the RPG world lately, this is one of my favorites.

Money-Here is a weird one. Characters don’t have cash, per se, they have a credit rating. This is a rough estimate of how much they can spend at any given time. You walk into a shop and want to buy something and it’s under your credit rating expenses in a day, you just get it. If it's massively above your credit rating, then you might lose some credit rating at the end of the adventure!

Advancement-Every session, a character marks all the skills they use and succeed at. At the end of every session, the character makes single attempt to roll over their current skill in that task. If they do, then they gain 1d10 extra points in that skill. In addition, characters can also attend school and do a test over their skills and advance much the same as above.

Sanity-It wouldn’t be Lovecraft without someone going mad! When you see something scary or learn a spell, you make a sanity roll. Sanity is like any other skill that you roll under. If you roll under, you lose less sanity. If you roll above, you lose more. Both events make it harder to deal with in the future! Lose all your sanity and you go insane!

Magic-Magic exists, but it comes with a cost. Spells use skills like any other action, and each spell uses magic points. When you run out of magic points, you start to lose hit points. To cast a roll, a character has to succeed at a ⅕ power roll. From then on, the character doesn’t have to make a check to cast the spell. Again, it’s a sleek and easy system.

Summary- Overall, I like what I see here. It’s sleek, easy to run, and more important, easy to play. Players are not buried under a mountain of information at the start of the game. You want to do X. If X could fail, then you roll. If you do fail maybe you can push and succeed or things get really hairy. Call of Cthulhu has an advantage-like system that makes life easy instead of having to fiddle with different modifiers. Money is easy to handle, and advancement is a snap. I like what I see here. My only issue is diversity and options. You really only advance in things you succeed at. If I want to learn to speak Aramaic, I have to know it at the start of the campaign. I don’t freely learn that unless I train which might not happen. My second problem is character options. Sure there are lots of cool options, but beyond character generation, character are more flung into situation and can’t really build in a direction. It feels a bit swingy to me, but that also enhances the helpless feeling from Lovecraft. These are minor complaints, but overall, it's a good system. 4.5/5

Theme or Fluff-The theme of this game is on point. This is the 7th edition of the game, so they know how to make a good story with Lovecraftian themes. In general, you CAN’T hack and shoot your way out of a confrontation with the horrors beyond time. The book has lots of help to get new investigators into the game quickly and efficiently. There are even two fully fleshed out adventures that the keeper(GM for this game) can throw at the players to get them playing the day you get the book. 4.75/5

Execution-This is the one area where I have some significant problems. Things are written relatively well, and the art is good. But, the layout of the book is a problem. The PDF is hyperlinked, but finding what you need is still a pain. The book has over over 300 pages, and I still have problems every time trying to find the credit rating table to figure out how much my players can spend at any given time. That is a significant problem! 3.5/5

Summary-This is a great system that the layout of the book hurts a bit. I love the way the system works in general, but wish that it had just a bit more options for the players during the game. The theme is on point, and I love what here. My major problem is the book's design. I can’t find what I need when I need it. I will admit, that might be a problem from me not having much experience, but if a new keeper is having problems, then that’s bad no matter what. However, if you can push through some problems with using the book, you can easily fall in love with this horror RPG. 85%

For me, Call of Cthulhu 7th edition provides a much needed update to the rules. The pdf version of the book is beautiful and the extensive bookmarks come in handy. If your not going to ever run the game chose the Investigator's Handbook instead. The only major downside is that the pdf doesn't appear to be optimized and the beautiful art slows dow accessing pages. Would like to see improvements to page loading in a future update. So great product but could use a bit of tweaking to make it more responsive while reading.

I own the 5th and 6th edition of CoC and have been playing for several years. The 7th edition of the Keeper's Rulebook is massive and has many changes from the 6th in terms of art, content and rules changes. The spirit of CoC, of course is still the same. I feel like the art, layout choices, information and overall presentation of information in this guide are very solid and a slight upgrade from the 6th (which I love btw). Even if you decide you want to stick with an earlier version of CoC I recommend buying this guide and picking and choosing which rules and information you want to cannibalize for your game. Several rules tweaks, such as "pushing" (attempting to reroll a failed skill check, but with the added risk of some type of adverse effect if you fail again) are brilliant.