Call of Cthulhu Starter Set

I played Call of Cthulhu for the first time in the early 80's. I was interested in the creatures and 1920's setting, but we were all teenagers and didn't know much about the setting or H.P. Lovecraft mythos. I read more of the mythos stories in my later teenage years and found they were ok but oddly written.

Fast forward to a few years ago and the game group I am in played a one-shot adventure around Halloween. Now that I was older, and have re-read many of the stories again, enjoyed it a lot more. Our roleplaying abilities have also increased since then so it was a better experience.

Almost two years back I saw the new seventh edition of the game in starter box format for $25 in my local game store and had it sit on my "to read" shelf until recently. After reading the rules and playing through the solo game included, "Alone Against The Flames", I am super happy with it. It has always been made by Chaosium.

Like most of the new starter boxes it has a lot in it and is a great way to see if you and your group like this RPG.

You do not read through the Introductory rulebook before you play the solo game. Moments in "Alone Against The Flames" will have you learn the basics and refer to the introductory rulebook. It is also a good way for a group to learn by passing around the book so everyone can try it out over a few weeks. The adventure itself is neither too easy nor too hard but does have players learn the do's and don't of playing in a world of the Cthulhu mythos.

The intro rules are enough to dive a little deeper into the mechanics of the game. I like the changes that were made from the last time I played so long ago but it will still be familiar to players of previous editions.

I only briefly looked through this booklet in case one of my gaming friends wanted to run any of them. There are three short adventures in here with maps and handouts.

Here is one of the handouts.

Overall I give this starter box two tentacles up!