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Deathtouched
2008-09-25, 09:21 PM
Don't know if this is right, blah, blah, blah, blah...

Okay, so I was just wondering if the latest editions of Call of Cthulhu include all previous information. As in, does the 5th edition rulebook include all information from 1, 2, 3, and 4? Or do the new editions only include new things and changes, meaning that I'd have to get more than one? Which is fine. Just wondering.

Tsotha-lanti
2008-09-25, 09:24 PM
What a bizarre question. New editions of any RPG are self-contained. You think they're going to want to run prints of five different books (all 200+ pages thick)?

Calinero
2008-09-25, 09:53 PM
I think the answer to that would be "no." The new rulebooks, unless I'm wrong, are intended to be totally separate from earlier editions. If you were to have all of them, you would have a lot of conflicting rules. You're supposed to run a game using one set of rulebooks only, unless you have some sort of desire to homebrew your own hybrid system.

nargbop
2008-09-26, 12:15 AM
I'm not familiar with Call of Cthulu, but I would guess that each release of the rulebook would be a separate version of the game. There are similarities, of course, but I would treat each version as a separate game. Players can try to quote rules from older version s of gaems, which should have been explicitly addressed in the new version or should instead be decided by the DM.

in short : use only one core ruleboook, and the DM's rule controls every gray area.

Project_Mayhem
2008-09-26, 05:40 AM
Fortunately, the point is moot, as CoC has changed very little over the editions, to the extent that you can run scenarios written for 1st, with 6th rules. The only change would be slightly more streamlined rules, and better treatment of insanity.

So, basically, I don't think theres anything major in the new rulebook that differs from the old ones.

Edit:
Players can try to quote rules from older version s of gaems, which should have been explicitly addressed in the new version or should instead be decided by the DM.


If players are quoting rules in Call of Cthulhu, they're playing the wrong game. To eloborate, the basic mechanic, which is roll a d100 under your skill, is all the players really need to know.

Winterwind
2008-09-26, 05:59 AM
While I'm not familiar with the older versions of the game, I can testify that the 6th edition rulebook is perfectly self-contained. It would have been a fairly stupid move by Chaosium otherwise, too, wouldn't it? :smallwink:


If players are quoting rules in Call of Cthulhu, they're playing the wrong game. To eloborate, the basic mechanic, which is roll a d100 under your skill, is all the players really need to know.Agreed. There are some more rules for combat, but if your players should ever need those it is a fairly good indication they are entirely screwed. :smallbiggrin:

Telok
2008-09-26, 10:31 AM
I don't know about the 6th edition but the 5th edition didn't have the poetry section, cartoons, sanity quiz, or 5 page long fold out of comparative size silhouettes.

Tengu_temp
2008-09-26, 01:41 PM
5 page long fold out of comparative size silhouettes.

Is a human an inch tall, while at least one creature takes more than one page for itself?

Deathtouched
2008-09-26, 04:02 PM
I see. Thank you for the replies. Now I just have to decide which edition I prefer. Thank you again.

EDIT: Just in case anyone happens to look at this again and knows and feels like answering, I wanted to ask if there are any substantial differences between normal CoC and CoC Dark Ages? Besides the obvious ones like government, technology, magic, and the portrayal of creatures. More like rule differences.

Tsotha-lanti
2008-09-26, 08:05 PM
Is a human an inch tall, while at least one creature takes more than one page for itself?

Yep.

I've always found the notion of trying to visually depict CoC monsters so ridiculous as to be a little offensive.

However, depicting depictions of them - as Malleus Maleficarum does - is freaking amazing. The "photos" of vases and such look so authentic I was very confused when I first read the book.


Never looked too deeply into CoC Dark Ages, but I can't imagine the basic mechanics differ. If you want to play between the 19th century and now, use regular CoC. If you want to play in the Dark Ages, use CoC Dark Ages.