Chaosium Inc. Call of Cthulhu Starter Set

This is the most well thought out starter kit for any TTRPG I have played; I was really astonished with the value when unpacking it. It comes with 3 books, as well as pre-preprinted handouts and character sheets. The first book is a really fun solo adventure for the Keeper (DM) or player to play on their own with either a premade character or a custom character. I had a blast playing through it as the Keeper and learning the game mechanics. The second book is a simplified rules manual, it is really straight forward and easy to read and understand. The third book is a collection of 3 one-shot campaigns, most short enough to play in one or two sessions. I am playing as a Keeper with only one player, and it is really easy to run all these one-shots with only one Keeper and one player, or one player and a DMNPC. I really enjoyed that there are separately printed handouts included to give my player, things like maps, notes and clues etc.

First off I have to say that EVERYTHING in this set is super high quality for a starter set, right down to it coming with premade characters. The booklets are of a higher standard than I expected, the box is wonderfully solid, the art on everything is beautiful, and the dice are solid. Nothing in this set is done without a purpose, including the off colour d10 which is off colour so that you can roll with advantage or disadvantage. I've been playing D&D for years so getting into Call of Cthulhu was much easier for me, but I could hand this to someone who'd never played Tabletop RPG's and they could get the hang of it.a few criticisms; The language used in this is a bit advanced, but I suppose that is to be expected with eldritch horror. The handouts and character sheets are clingy and difficult to pull away from one another. The layout of the adventures are a bit difficult for a new Story Keeper if they've never been a game master before (advising roleplay with sometimes little to no direction) though at times the opposite is true, wherein it holds the hand of new game masters really well. Finally the biggest issue is the difficulty curve it has for understanding the mechanics in general (to an extent), the books often do a poor job of explaining how certain actions are meant to play out, Primarily combat.regardless of these nitpicks this is an INCREDIBLY worthwhile purchase for anyone interested in Call of Cthulhu, ESPECIALLY if they aren't sure they'll like the game enough to warrant the slightly high cost of the main rulebook and player's handbook for 7th Edition.

This is a great starter set. It gives you most of what you need to start a Cthulu campaign. The price is great. The books are a little flimsy but thats fine for a starter. With this set you can create characters and there are some enclosed adventures to start you out. There's some pre-made characters to use if you want. I have players using Nevada and Lois. There are blank character sheets and a set of dice. If you are new to tabletop or a seasoned gamer this kit has what you need to start. In the off chance that fantasy horror role playing in Lovecraft's world is not for you, then you didn't drop a ton of coin. This is really the best starter set since the D&D set from the 80s. I picked this up to see if my gaming group would enjoy it. It was a hit. I'll be picking up the big books on my next Amazon order. My group has really gotten into Call. I enjoy seeing the looks of despair on my players faces as thing go badly, which they always do. Stay sane my friends!

This starter set is excellent. I've played D&D for years, but never tried Call of Cthulhu. The included solo adventure is a really clever way to help you learn the rules, how to make a character, and just generally how the game plays. I'm really surprised more games don't have solo adventures for sale. It's often hard to try out a new game, especially when you don't know anybody who has played that game before! After running the solo adventure, I ran the 2-person adventure with a couple guys in my gaming group to teach them the game, then we ran the bigger adventure together. No need for a veteran player!Compared to the D&D Starter Set, this is much more what I think a "starter set" should be. The D&D set still requires you to have a couple people to play with, and it would likely be difficult for 3 totally new players to get into the game. I'm confident somebody who had never tried tabletop role-playing before could get into this game just as easily as I did with this set.All the materials are in full-color and printed on a nice heavy paper. The included dice are rather plain though. It would be cool if they included some dice that were Cthulhu themed, or even just a more exciting color. The box is also slightly taller than most board game boxes. It's on my shelf next to Catan, Ticket To Ride, and the D&D starter set, which are all the same height. Not a real problem, but worth mentioning.

The game is great, but instead of putting this in a box to ship, it was put in an envelope, which got wet on the porch, and the packaging was crushed as a result of the lack of care for packaging. Thankfully the game was still sealed in the plastic shrink wrap, so the contents are ok.

We have moved to Call of Cthulhu from Dungeons and Dragons. This is one of the best starter sets I have ever seen. It comes with most of the rules for the game in a simplified version so the rest of the rules can be added easily over time from the keeper handbook. It is the first time where I didn't immediately feel the need for the actual rule book. It comes with a couple character sheets, 3 adventures with handouts and a few pre done characters. My group are about half way through the second of the included adventures (Edge of Darkness) and it is a welcome change to Dungeons and Dragons walk to the next monster to kill / Kill Monster / Walk to the next monster loop. IF your looking for a new TTRPG and you haven't played this one check it out.

It's got everything you need to learn the rules and it has plenty of content to last a few sessions.