Trail of Cthulhu

Last updated

Trail of Cthulhu
TrailofCthulhucover.jpg
Cover art by Jérôme Huguenin
Designers Kenneth Hite, Robin Laws, Jérôme Huguenin, Simon J Rogers
Publishers Pelgrane Press
PublicationMarch 2008
Genres Investigative horror
Systems Gumshoe System

Trail of Cthulhu is an investigative horror role-playing game published by Pelgrane Press in 2008 in which the players' characters investigate mysterious events related to the Cthulhu Mythos. The game is a licensed product based on the horror role playing game Call of Cthulhu published by Chaosium, which is itself based on the writings of H. P. Lovecraft.

Contents

Setting

Trail of Cthulhu is set during the 1930s, featuring fictional characters and locations (such as Professor Armitage and Arkham), and with the ever-present and menacing Cthulhu Mythos in the background. Horrid monsters lurk in dark and forgotten places, while fiendish cults worship Great Old Ones and Outer Gods through blasphemous rituals. Ordinary people that are drawn into and forced to confront this world of mystery and horror risk not only their physical well-being, but their mental health as well.

The game supports two styles of play, though their elements are fully interchangeable. The Purist mode sets ordinary people against the power of the Mythos and forces far more powerful than mere mortals. [1] In the Pulp mode, characters are heroes in the mold of Indiana Jones, and for them, nothing is impossible. [1]

Character generation

Each player creates a character and chooses an occupation from the list provided. Each occupation provides a special ability that is not available to other occupations.

From a pool of Build Points, the player buys abilities. The character's occupation allows the player to buy certain related abilities at a lower cost. For example, Medicine would cost less to a doctor than to a professor.

In Purist mode, Health and Stability cannot exceed 12, and player characters do not receive new build points after a scenario is completed.

The rules suggest that in Pulp mode, that the pool of Build Points be increased to allow for more heroic characters. Also in Pulp mode, at the end of each scenario, characters receive two new Build Points to be assigned to any ability.

Drive, Stability and Sanity

In the face of incomprehensible horror, a character's sanity is always an issue. Each player character has Drive, a motivation that keeps him or her going where normal people would have given up in the face of horror. Player characters that act against their Drives will lose Stability, while player characters that follow their Drives will refresh lost Stability.

Sanity is a long-term measurement of a character's mental health. For each 3 full rating points in Sanity, a character must have one Pillar of Sanity; a human concern that he or she believes and trusts in.

In Purist style play, lost Sanity is never refreshed, while Pulp style may allow player characters to refresh some Sanity if they successfully complete scenarios.

Magic

Trail of Cthulhu introduces a magic system to the GUMSHOE System, but using magic will quickly drain away a player character's Stability.

Gameplay

The game uses the Gumshoe System, developed by Robin Laws of Pelgrane Press and previously used in The Esoterrorists (2006) and Fear Itself (2007). [2] : 384 

In this system, investigation skills do not require a die roll; the Investigator simply announces that they will use a skill they possess for a certain purpose, and the Keeper tells the player what clue they have learned. For example, an Investigator can announce they will use their Medicine skill to perform an autopsy, and the Keeper tells the doctor that the victim died of poison. [1] If a player feels there is still more to be learned, they can spend Skill points to see if there are additional secondary clues at the scene. [3] For example, the doctor who performed the autopsy spends Skill points and learns that the poison is a rare neurotoxin only recently discovered by an expedition to the Amazon jungle led by Professor Roscoe T. Abernathy of Arkham University.

The game is largely based on a narrative approach, with dialogue between Investigators and the Keeper determining how the story unfolds.

Situations requiring physical actions, which includes combat, are resolved by rolling dice against target numbers or opposed rolls.

Trail of Cthulhu provides guidelines for adapting Chaosium's large catalogue of Call of Cthulhu adventures to the Gumshoe System. [3]

Publication history

Call of Cthulhu, the popular horror roleplaying game based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, was published by Chaosium in 1981. In the first decade of the 21st century, Kenneth Hite designed a Cthulhu Mythos game using the Gumshoe System. The result was Trail of Cthulhu, which was published by Pelgrane Press in 2008 "by arrangement with Chaosium." [2] : 384 

Pelgrane Press followed up with a large number of scenarios, adventures and supplements. [2] : 385 

In September 2023, Pelgrane Press announced [4] Hite and Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan would collaborate on a second edition.

Awards

Reception

In the 2011 book Designers & Dragons, game historian Shannon Appelcline noted, "Trail of Cthulhu was released as a handsome hardcover volume, over twice as long as either of the previous Gumshoe games. Two-toned printing and beautiful gray-scale artwork helped to make Trail of Cthulhu one of the most attractive and notable books that Pelgrane had ever produced." [2] : 384 

In Wired , M.J. Harnish wrote, "I think it manages to capture the feel Lovecraft's stories, particularly when played in Purist mode, with rules built to complement the stories. GUMSHOE is a perfect fit for investigating the supernatural mysteries and horrors associated with the Cthulhu Mythos. It also is simple enough to be run in a more 'off-the-cuff' improvisational style and doesn't require a great deal of prep on the part of the GM, an important consideration for those of us with busy lives." Hanish concluded, "In the end, Trail of Cthulhu is a roleplaying game I would highly recommend to anyone who is interested in Lovecraft's stories, or horror investigation in general. The game's system, setting, and supplemental material all work together to create an interesting and thoroughly compelling world to explore." [3]

In The Unspeakable Oath , [10] reviewer Matthew Pook concluded, "The publication of Trail of Cthulhu raises the question, “Why effectively rewrite Call of Cthulhu?” Well, the latter is almost 30 years old and for all its core elegance, its age shows. The presentation of stats for its Mythos menagerie is almost Dungeons & Dragons -like. And by modern gaming standards it fails to address fully the tasks of both players and Keeper. […] Trail of Cthulhu is a harsher, grainier approach to Lovecraftian investigative horror. Fully supported by elegant mechanics, it opens up a whole new decade and restores the unknown of Lovecraft’s Mythos. Ten phobias."

Other reviews and commentary

Products

Related Research Articles

<i>Call of Cthulhu</i> (role-playing game) Tabletop horror role-playing game

Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos. The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium; it was first released in 1981 and is in its seventh edition, with licensed foreign language editions available as well. Its game system is based on Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing (BRP) with additions for the horror genre. These include special rules for sanity and luck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaosium</span> Game publisher

Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include Call of Cthulhu, based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft, RuneQuest Glorantha, Pendragon, based on Thomas Mallory's Le Morte d'Arthur, and 7th Sea, "swashbuckling and sorcery" set in a fantasy 17th century Europe.

<i>Delta Green</i> Tabletop horror role-playing game and game setting

Delta Green is a contemporary era setting for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game created by Adam Scott Glancy, Dennis Detwiller, and John Scott Tynes, a.k.a. the Delta Green Partnership, of the Seattle gaming house Pagan Publishing. The setting first appeared in a 1992 RPG scenario and revolves around a secretive organization tasked with protecting the United States from paranormal and alien threats. Delta Green combines the classic 1920s Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft with modern conspiracy fiction.

<i>Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game</i> Card game based on the Cthulhu Mythos

Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game is an out-of-print card game produced and marketed by Fantasy Flight Games from 2004 to 2015. It is based on Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu role-playing game, the writings of H. P. Lovecraft, and other Cthulhu Mythos fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robin Laws</span> Canadian writer and game designer (born 1964)

Robin D. Laws is a Canadian writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Canada. He is the author of a number of novels and role-playing games as well as an anthologist.

<i>Arkham Horror</i> American adventure board game, first published 1987

Arkham Horror is a cooperative adventure board game designed by Richard Launius, originally published in 1987 by Chaosium. The game is based on Chaosium's roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu, which is set in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft and other horror writers. The game's second edition was released by Fantasy Flight Games in 2005, with a third edition in 2018.

<i>Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth</i> 2005 horror game

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a survival horror video game developed by British studio Headfirst Productions for the Xbox in 2005 and for Microsoft Windows in 2006. It combines an action-adventure game with a relatively realistic first-person shooter and elements of a stealth game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Hite</span> American game designer

Kenneth Hite is a writer and role-playing game designer. Hite is the author of Trail of Cthulhu and Night's Black Agents role-playing games, and lead designer of the 5th edition of Vampire: the Masquerade.

<i>Mythos</i> (card game) Collectible card game

Mythos is an out-of-print collectible card game published by Chaosium from 1996 to 1997. It is based on the Cthulhu Mythos stories of the horror author H. P. Lovecraft, as well as on Chaosium's own Call of Cthulhu role-playing game.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelgrane Press</span> British publisher of roleplaying games

Pelgrane Press Ltd is a British role-playing game publishing company based in London and founded in 1999. It is co-owned by Simon J Rogers and Cat Tobin. It currently produces GUMSHOE System RPGs, 13th Age, the Diana Jones award-winning Hillfolk RPG, The Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, and other related products. It publishes fiction under the Stone Skin Press imprint.

<i>CthulhuTech</i>

CthulhuTech is a science-fiction and horror roleplaying game created by Wildfire LLC and published by Sandstorm that combines elements of the Cthulhu Mythos with anime-style mecha, horror, magic and futuristic action. The setting is Earth in 2085 during a worldwide conflict known as the Aeon War, wherein the planet has been invaded twice: once by a black-skinned manufactured alien race known as the Nazzadi who are derived from humans and who join forces with them, and then a second time by the Mi-Go, an advanced alien civilization seemingly bent on the enslavement of humanity. Aside from these conflicts, the game focuses on other factions, such as ancient cults like the Esoteric Order of Dagon that are running amok across the planet and the eldritch horrors that are rising to destroy the world as, according to the prophecies of the Cthulhu Mythos, the "stars are right" and the Great Old Ones and their servitors are returning/reawakening to reclaim the Earth. The game uses a proprietary ten-sided die (d10) system titled "Framewerk."

<i>Gumshoe System</i> Tabletop role-playing game

The Gumshoe System is a role-playing game system created in 2007 by Robin Laws, designed for running investigative scenarios. The premise is that investigative games are not about finding clues, they are about interpreting the clues that are found. The Gumshoe System is used in various games published by Pelgrane Press. As a result of the Hillfolk kickstarter, the SRD for the Gumshoe System has been made available for use under two open licenses: the Open Game License (OGL) and Creative Commons Attribution.

<i>Elder Sign</i> (card game) Tabletop game

Elder Sign is a cooperative card and dice game, based on the Cthulhu Mythos of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft and Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. It is published by Fantasy Flight Games, which also produces the Cthulhu Mythos games Arkham Horror, Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game, Mansions of Madness, and Eldritch Horror.

<i>The Esoterrorists</i> Tabletop horror role-playing game by Robin Laws

The Esoterrorists is a Contemporary Occult tabletop role-playing game, written by Robin D. Laws, and published by Pelgrane Press in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth Hanrahan</span> Irish game designer and novelist

Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan is an Irish game designer and novelist who has worked primarily on role-playing games.

<i>Masks of Nyarlathotep</i> Horror tabletop role-playing game campaign

Masks of Nyarlathotep, subtitled Perilous Adventures to Thwart the Dark God, is an adventure campaign first published by Chaosium in 1984 for the second edition of the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. A number of revised editions have subsequently been published. Masks of Nyarlathotep is a series of several sequential adventures set in the 1920s that take the player characters from New York, to London, Cairo, Nairobi, and Shanghai as they deal with the threat of the god Nyarlathotep. Screenwriter Larry DiTillio wrote the adventure with game designer Lynn Willis during a writer's strike. It received positive reviews in game periodicals including Casus Belli, The Space Gamer, White Dwarf, Different Worlds, and Dragon, and is considered to be one of the best roleplaying adventures of all time.

<i>Horror on the Orient Express</i> Tabletop horror role-playing game campaign

Horror on the Orient Express is a campaign boxed set published by Chaosium in 1991 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. In this adventure, the player characters use the Orient Express to search for pieces of an artifact, while a cult tries to stop them. The original edition won two Origins Awards and received positive reviews in game periodicals including The Unspeakable Oath, White Wolf, and Dragon. A revised and expanded edition was published in 2014, which won three ENnie Awards.

<i>Terror Australis: Call of Cthulhu in the Land Down Under</i> Horror tabletop role-playing game adventure

Terror Australis is a supplement published by Chaosium in 1987 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, itself based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft. It was written by Penelope Love, Mark Morrison, Lynn Willis, Larry DiTillio, and Sandy Petersen, and is intended to be used as a sourcebook for adventures in Australia in the 1920s. It received positive reviews in game periodicals including White Dwarf, Casus Belli, and Dragon. A revised and expanded second edition was published in 2019, which won two ENnie Awards.

<i>Kingsport: The City in the Mists</i> Horror fiction tabletop role-playing game supplement

Kingsport: The City in the Mists is a supplement published by Chaosium in 1991 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu that describes a mysterious Massachusetts city.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Trail of Cthulhu". Guide du Rôliste Galactique (in French). 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Shannon Appelcline (2011). Designers & Dragons. Mongoose Publishing. ISBN   978-1-907702-58-7.
  3. 1 2 3 Hanish, M.J. (2011-11-03). "In-Depth RPG Review: Trail of Cthulhu". Wired. Retrieved 2023-01-20.
  4. ↑ "Announcing: Trail of Cthulhu 2nd Edition!". Pelgrane Press. 2023-09-06. Retrieved 2024-10-01.
  5. ↑ "2008 ENnie Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
  6. ↑ "Assegnate le Nomination e i Side Award: del Best of Show di Lucca Games 2010". Lucca Comics & Games (in Italian). Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  7. ↑ "2010 ENnie Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
  8. ↑ "2011 ENnie Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Retrieved 2013-04-21.
  9. 1 2 "2012 ENnie Awards". www.ennie-awards.com. Retrieved 2012-09-10.
  10. ↑ Pook, Matthew (2010-12-01). "The Eye of Light & Darkness". The Unspeakable Oath. No. 18. pp. 6–7.
  11. ↑ "Pyramid: Pyramid Pick: Trail of Cthulhu".
  12. ↑ "When the End of the World is a Mercy Killing: Cthulhu Apocalypse – Black Gate". November 2015.

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.