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Trail of Cthulhu (role-playing game)
Encyclopedia
Trail of Cthulhu is an investigative horror
role-playing game
designed by Kenneth Hite
that uses the GUMSHOE System
developed by Robin Laws
. Trail of Cthulhu is published by Pelgrane Press
under license from Chaosium
. ToC is based on Call of Cthulhu
but offers a different take on role-playing in the Cthulhu Mythos
.
. It is set during the historical 1930s
of our own world, but with fictional characters and locations (such as Professor Armitage and Arkham
), and the menacing Cthulhu Mythos
present 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 wellbeing, but their mental health as well.
The game supports two styles of play, though their elements are fully interchangeable.
, a fictional character that slowly uncovers the mysteries of the setting, while the Keeper
describes and controls the setting and its inhabitants
. The players describe their character’s intended actions, making them interact with the setting and its inhabitants. Outcomes of these actions are either determined by the rules of the game or chosen by the Keeper.
The rules combine a "narrative" approach to investigation with a simple approach to resolving physical actions including combat. The former is resolved by dialogue and players choosing to expend resources (Spends of Pool Points), the latter is resolved by rolling dice against target numbers or opposed rolls.
of his own, or buys a premade one. A scenario contains plot, character, and location details that form the mystery. As the player characters interact with the scenario's contents, they uncover clues that move them from scene to scene, eventually giving them information needed to solve the mystery.
is a continuing storyline or a set of scenarios that are somehow linked together, usually with reoccurring characters and locations. Typically the players will continue to use the same characters, giving the characters time to change and evolve as the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos affect them.
Trail of Cthulhu uses a slightly modified version of the GUMSHOE System.
Just as in Call of Cthulhu, a rating in the Cthulhu Mythos ability reduces player characters maximum Sanity.
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.
Trail of Cthulhu received two silver ENnies Awards
for Best Rules and Best Writing (2008), as well as an honorary mention for Best Product.
The Armitage Files received a silver ENnies Award
for Best Adventure (2010).
Bookhounds of London received a silver ENnies Award
for Best Cartography (2011).
Horror fiction
Horror fiction also Horror fantasy is a philosophy of literature, which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten its readers, inducing feelings of horror and terror. It creates an eerie atmosphere. Horror can be either supernatural or non-supernatural...
role-playing game
Role-playing game (pen and paper)
A tabletop role-playing game, pen-and-paper role-playing game, or Table-talk role-playing game is a form of role-playing game in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech...
designed by Kenneth Hite
Kenneth Hite
Kenneth Hite is a writer and role-playing game designer. He holds an M.A. in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor's degree in Cartography from East Central University. He has been writing games since 1981 and full-time since 1995...
that uses the GUMSHOE System
GUMSHOE System
The GUMSHOE System is a role-playing game system created 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...
developed by Robin Laws
Robin Laws
Robin D. Laws is a writer and game designer who lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the author of a number of role-playing games and related products.-Works:Robin D...
. Trail of Cthulhu is published by Pelgrane Press
Pelgrane Press
Pelgrane Press Ltd is a British role-playing game publishing company based in London and founded in 1999. It is owned by Simon J Rogers, Sasha Bilton and its sister company ProFantasy Software. It currently produces the Dying Earth Roleplaying Game, GUMSHOE System and related products.-GUMSHOE...
under license from Chaosium
Chaosium
Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of role-playing games still in existence. Founded by Greg Stafford, its first game was actually a wargame, White Bear and Red Moon, which later mutated into Dragon Pass and its sequel, Nomad Gods...
. ToC is based on Call of Cthulhu
Call of Cthulhu (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.-Setting:...
but offers a different take on role-playing in the Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
.
Setting
Trail of Cthulhu is based on the writings of H. P. LovecraftH. P. Lovecraft
Howard Phillips Lovecraft --often credited as H.P. Lovecraft — was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction....
. It is set during the historical 1930s
1930s
File:1930s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: Dorothea Lange's photo of the homeless Florence Thompson show the effects of the Great Depression; Due to the economic collapse, the farms become dry and the Dust Bowl spreads through America; The Battle of Wuhan during the Second Sino-Japanese...
of our own world, but with fictional characters and locations (such as Professor Armitage and Arkham
Arkham
Arkham is a fictional city in Massachusetts, part of the Lovecraft Country setting created by H. P. Lovecraft and is featured in many of his stories, as well as those of other Cthulhu Mythos writers....
), and the menacing Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
present 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 wellbeing, but their mental health as well.
The game supports two styles of play, though their elements are fully interchangeable.
Purist
The Purist style aims at intellectual horror and cosmic dread, detailing ordinary people’s futile struggle against the Cthulhu Mythos. Death and (more importantly) insanity are not only constant threats for purist characters, they are almost inevitable.Pulp
The Pulp style is intended for a more adventurous, thrilling location style of play, where brave heroes battle the denizens of the Cthulhu Mythos. Though danger is certainly present, pulp characters are more able to survive the horrors they encounter.Gameplay
Each player controls an InvestigatorPlayer character
A player character or playable character is a character in a video game or role playing game who is controlled or controllable by a player, and is typically a protagonist of the story told in the course of the game. A player character is a persona of the player who controls it. Player characters...
, a fictional character that slowly uncovers the mysteries of the setting, while the Keeper
Gamemaster
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for questions regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer game...
describes and controls the setting and its inhabitants
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
. The players describe their character’s intended actions, making them interact with the setting and its inhabitants. Outcomes of these actions are either determined by the rules of the game or chosen by the Keeper.
The rules combine a "narrative" approach to investigation with a simple approach to resolving physical actions including combat. The former is resolved by dialogue and players choosing to expend resources (Spends of Pool Points), the latter is resolved by rolling dice against target numbers or opposed rolls.
Scenarios
Playing Trail of Cthulhu typically involves a mystery for the players to solve through the actions of their characters. The Keeper either prepares a scenarioAdventure (role-playing games)
An adventure is either a published or otherwise written collection of plot, character, and location details used by a gamemaster to manage the plot or story in a role-playing game. Each adventure is based upon a particular gaming genre and is normally designed for use with a specific game or gaming...
of his own, or buys a premade one. A scenario contains plot, character, and location details that form the mystery. As the player characters interact with the scenario's contents, they uncover clues that move them from scene to scene, eventually giving them information needed to solve the mystery.
Campaigns
A campaignCampaign (role-playing games)
In role-playing games, a campaign is a continuing storyline or set of adventures, typically involving the same characters. The purpose of the continuing storyline is to introduce a further aspect into the game: that of development, improvement, and growth of the characters. In a campaign, a...
is a continuing storyline or a set of scenarios that are somehow linked together, usually with reoccurring characters and locations. Typically the players will continue to use the same characters, giving the characters time to change and evolve as the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos affect them.
System
The GUMSHOE System is centred around the idea that investigative scenarios are not about finding clues, they are about interpreting the clues that you find. GUMSHOE therefore makes finding clues all but automatic. If a scene contains a clue, and a player character uses an ability that relates to the clue, the clue will be found. There are no dice rolls involved in finding clues.Trail of Cthulhu uses a slightly modified version of the GUMSHOE System.
Occupations
All player characters have an occupation that they might or might not continue with as they uncover the Cthulhu Mythos. Each occupation has a number of occupational abilities that are bought at a reduced cost when spending build points during character creation. Each occupation also has a special ability.Drives
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.Abilities
Both investigative and general abilities have been adapted to better suit the 1930s era. The number of investigative build points have been slightly reduced as a compensation for the reduced cost of occupational abilities. Build points for general abilities have been increased since there are more general abilities in Trail of Cthulhu. For Pulp style play, it is suggested that general build points could be increased even more.Sanity
As a complement to Stability, an ability called Sanity has been added as a long-term measurement of a player characters 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.Just as in Call of Cthulhu, a rating in the Cthulhu Mythos ability reduces player characters maximum Sanity.
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.
Improving the Character
Trail of Cthulhu allows player characters to reassign up to 2 build points between scenarios. In Purist style play, player characters do not receive new build points after a scenario is completed.Magic
Trail of Cthulhu introduces a magic system to the GUMSHOE System. It includes both spells and rituals, though the difference is more in theme rather than rules. Using magic in ToC will quickly drain away a player character's Stability.Products
- Trail of Cthulhu - The core rules, including material on the 1930s setting and the Cthulhu Mythos, by Ken Hite.
- Stunning Eldritch Tales - 4 scenarios, mainly in Pulp style, by Robin D. Laws.
- Trail of Cthulhu Player’s Guide - The core rules, without any setting material.
- Keeper’s Screen with Keepers Resource Book - Rules summary and additional material for abilities and occupations, by Simon Carryer.
- Four Shadows - Music for Trail of Cthulhu, by James Semple.
- The Dying of St Margaret’s - The first of four Purist style scenarios, by Graham Walmsley.
- Shadows Over Filmland - The Backlot Gothic setting and 12 scenarios, by Ken Hite and Robin D. Laws.
- Arkham Detective Tales - 4 scenarios and a campaign frame, by Gareth Hanrahan.
- Rough Magicks - Expanded setting and rules for magic in ToC, by Ken Hite.
- The Armitage Files - A campaign with tips focused on improvisation, by Robin D. Laws.
- Eternal Lies Suite - Music for a ToC campaign, by James Semple.
- Bookhounds of London - Setting material for London and a scenario, by Ken Hite.
- Out of Time - 4 scenarios previously released as pdf, set outside the 1930s setting, by Adam Gauntlett, Jason Morningstar and Bill WhiteBill White-Politics:* Bill White – former mayor of the city of Houston and a candidate for the Texas gubernatorial election in 2010...
.
Trail of Cthulhu received two silver ENnies Awards
ENnies
The Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards are annual, fan-based awards for role-playing game products and publishers hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana...
for Best Rules and Best Writing (2008), as well as an honorary mention for Best Product.
The Armitage Files received a silver ENnies Award
ENnies
The Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards are annual, fan-based awards for role-playing game products and publishers hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana...
for Best Adventure (2010).
Bookhounds of London received a silver ENnies Award
ENnies
The Annual Gen Con EN World RPG Awards are annual, fan-based awards for role-playing game products and publishers hosted at Gen Con in Indianapolis, Indiana...
for Best Cartography (2011).