About:Call of Cthulhu

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About Call of Cthulhu

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Call of Cthulhu (1981)

Lovecraftian monsters were first adapted for RPGs by the AD&D supplement Deities & Demigods (1980) and the RQ supplement The Gateway Bestiary (1980).¹ The Gateway Bestiary was Sandy Petersen's first work for Chaosium, and he followed up the effort with the first Horror RPG, Call of Cthulhu.

Call of Cthulhu is a simplified version of the RuneQuest rules with the notable introduction of sanity. Each character has his or her sanity determined at random at the start of play, and the value declines as the character uncovers facts about the horrors of the Cthulhu mythos. Petersen got the idea from an article in Sorcerer's Apprentice².

Notes

• ¹ Some count the Mind Flyer, which appeared in the Strategic Review #1 (1975) and according to Gary Gygax was inspired by the cover of The Burrowers Beneath by Mythos author Brian Lumley. See [1].
• ² Heroic Worlds p. 241