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Call of Cthulhu RPG

This Call of Cthulhu RPG review is part of my “Best Tabletop RPGs of All Time” article. If you want to check out more TTRPGs and see how other top-tier tabletop RPGs are ranked, visit that page.

My Review – 77 / 100

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Call of Cthulhu is a TTRPG based on stories written by one of the most celebrated horror fiction writers of all time: H.P. Lovecraft. Cthulhu is a deity of chaos worshipped by cultists in many of H.P. Lovecraft’s stories. If you aren’t familiar with books like the “Necromonicon,” I highly recommend you add it to your list.

You can still play Call of Cthulhu RPG without a working knowledge of the stories from which they are derived. However, if you are familiar with even some of the short stories written by H.P Lovecraft, you’ll almost certainly enjoy playing Call of Cthulhu substantially more.

Uniqueness of Call of Cthulhu RPG: (6/10)

The most unique part of Call of Cthulhu RPG is the “sanity system.” Basically, the horrors of the mythos are so tremendous that upon experiencing anything to do with the otherworldly pieces of the game, your character might go insane. The sanity system tracks your character’s sanity “hit points,” in a sense.

When your character experiences something ghastly or born of chaos in any sense, you have to make a sanity check. As you fail checks (which will happen from time to time), your character becomes weaker to the psychic/ mental traumas inherent in a universe with which your character fundamentally can’t fully contend. It’s pretty interesting to watch a character slowly go insane as they brush up against the horrors of Cthulhu multiple times.

Another feature I like in Call of Cthulhu RPG is that when your character succeeds at anything , there’s a chance for your character improve at that specific task. This means that characters get better by doing, which is a system that I love.

One huge downside of the game is that when it comes to skill checks, you really need to be good at math. There are scenarios where you need to half values, then fifth them again. Why? Why is that in the game at all? This is such a great game that I was surprised to find such a frustrating mechanic.

Ease of Learning the Game: (7/10)

As with rolling skill checks, determining character stats is easy if you’re good at multiplying numbers in your head, quickly. Many people aren’t, which really bogs down the game. Overall, the numbers aren’t that bad though, as most of the weird math problems are found in character generation and some occasional skill checks.

Primarily, Call of Cthulhu RPG is a mystery/ investigation game. The investigation process is quite cool, and it’s pretty intuitive for new players. Once characters are created, the game gets a little easier, and so long as there aren’t a lot of skill checks being made, the game is fairly simple to play.

Call of Cthulhu Presentation: (7/10)

I really like this game’s presentation in the core rulebook. The book’s font calls back to early 1900’s in the U.S., while the Cthulhu-like tentacles on important parts of the rulebook makes them stand out, and reminds you of the horrors that await you around nearly every corner. The rulebook is easy to follow from a practicality standpoint.

H.P Lovecraft Lore: (10/10)

As I mentioned, Call ofCthulhu is based on the writings of H.P. Lovecraft. So, the lore of Call of Cthulhu RPG is really the lore of stories contained in the “Necronomicon.”

There’s not better lore for a game’s foundation that can be found anywhere in the world.

Combat in Call of Cthulhu RPG: (5/10)

Combat in Call of Cthulhu RPG features relatively simple numbers. I enjoy that when you’re attacked, your character also attacks back in that same action. There are levels of success when it comes to combat checks, and related damage, which is a little weird the way it’s done, but also kind of cool. When you engage in combat, as with normal skill checks, there will be math, so prepare for that.

Combat in Call of Cthulhu is a simple system with not a lot to it. It’s not something I’d enjoy digging into for more than a few minutes at a time, and not for more than once or twice per gaming session.

It is important to note that Call of Cthulhu RPG is not about fighting the horrors of the H.P. Lovecraft mythos, like you might expect from games like Dungeons and Dragons. Instead, the game is one of discovery and investigation. It’s better to run from fights than to ever try and engage in something that’s very likely to end in your character’s death.

Call of Cthulhu comes with the premise that the monsters you’ll face are far superior to your character in almost every way. Their mere presence is sometimes enough to drive your character insane, so there’s often no point whatsoever in fighting them.

Game “Flow”: (7/10)

The tension of Call of Cthulhu comes from the journey of discovery. As you learn more about what’s happening in the game’s world, ideas flow out from your discoveries, and one set of investigations leads to another. With each new step along the journey, drama heightens.

If you loves mystery games and solving riddles/ puzzles, you’ll probably love Call of Cthulhu. For myself, I don’t enjoy uncovering mysteries enough to make it the premise of an entire RPG campaign. Furthermore, I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment.

So, I scored this game as well as I could for this section of the game’s review, but I don’t believe pure mystery to make for an optimal game flow. Again though, if you love mysteries, go ahead and give this game another 3 points (to make this section 10/10) and you’ll have a better idea of whether or not Call of Cthulhu is the right game for you.

Artwork: (5/10)

Most of the artwork in Call of Cthulhu comes in a comic book style. I like the artwork a lot and feel it fits the dark, mysterious vibe. That being said, you won’t find the high-end art here that you might be used to seeing in other higher-budget RPGs. Overall, there’s not a lot of standout art in this book that will wow you.

There is terrific – and I mean truly terrific – Cthulhu art all over the internet. Search it for yourself and be amazed. It’s just that the quality of artwork you can find literally anywhere online is (astoundingly) not found in the Call of Cthulhu RPG rulebook.

Ease of Purchase: (10/10)

It’s very easy to purchase Call of Cthulhu RPG at either the Chaosium website, or through online retailers like Amazon.

Price & How Many Books Do You Need to Play: (10/10)

You can purchase the game’s starter set for $25. There are also higher tiers of entry according to how much you like the game and want to invest. The options for purchasing the game make it much easier to give it a try if you or the other players in your gaming group are new to Call of Cthulhu.

Fame & Availability of Supplemental Material: (10/10)

Call of Cthulhu has lots of supplemental material to help inspire an ongoing campaign. Plus, all you have to do is pick up the “Necronomicon” for literally endless ideas.

Call of Cthulhu is one of the easier tabletop RPGs to get going with a new group, for this reason.

Call of Cthulhu is Produced By:

Chaosium Inc.

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Jacob Tegtman

Dear reader, I hope you enjoyed my article. Tabletop gaming has been a passion of mine since I was 6 years old. I've played just about every game from Dungeons and Dragons to video games like Final Fantasy. These games have inspired me, made me laugh, made me cry, and brought me endless hours of enjoyment.

I started Eternity TTRPG - and the indie tabletop game that goes along with it (Eternity Shop) - to share my love of gaming with others. I believe that in our technology-driven age, tabletop games help bring a sense of magic and community back into our world.

If you love the site, please share it with others! I have lots of gaming-related material for you to peruse and use in your own gaming sessions. If you have any questions about the site or want to contribute, just send me a message using the "Contact" page, which you can find in the site's footer.

Jacob Tegtman

5 Halloween D&D One-Shot Ideas for Last-Minute DMs

October 30, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TicIZUlQV08 Transcription IMG_7957 === [00:00:00] Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG YouTube channel, where I go over different happenings in the tabletop role-playing universe, from D&D to the game my husband and I are creating. Um, as we all know, it is going on Halloween weekend, which is usually when we all get together with our tabletop role-playing groups and try to do a one-shot adventure. So for all of the last-minute DMs trying to throw something together for their friends, I've got a couple of ideas for you that I am just gonna rapid fire, okay? So first one, you have a haunted house that does not want you to leave. So your party is invited to investigate an abandoned mansion manor where a family mysteriously disappeared. Um, the twist in this is that the house itself changes its layout depending on the party's actions. So the rooms move, doors disappear, and the house seems to, [00:01:00] like, know the party's secrets somehow, right? Um, different encounter ideas in here is gonna be, like, animated f- um, furniture, possessed portraits, um, secret locations, and the, like, finale can be the house itself is a monster, so you have to, you know, figure out how the monster stays alive and how you can get out. Um, second one, we have the village that celebrates Halloween every night. So your, uh, tabletop role-playing party arrives at a village where everyone is celebrating a strange festival. However, nobody remembers the previous night, and the festival repeats it every single night. So you get Halloween every night. So you have different, like, strange villagers going on. You can start incorporating other, um, you know, Halloween things like scarecrows and werewolves and, [00:02:00] um, jack-o-lan-lanterns. Um, so then also finale with this one, your party discovers that the village is trapped in a curse, and you have to break the ritual before midnight of any given night that you're there. Cool. Um, third one, something is hunting in the woods. This is where we get our werewolves, our spiders, you know, all of our creepies. So travelers have gone missing near a forest, and the party's hired to investigate. So something can be following your party into there, but they never get a clear look at what is following them. So you start dealing with, like, false tracks and abandoned campsites, strange noises, and different things like that. You can even throw in environmental hazards in there, like a river, a bog, um, quicksand, that corn-- sort of stuff. Um, finale of this, a terrifying creature corners the party, and you have to choose how [00:03:00] to get past it. Um, moving on, the Last Night at the Graveyard. So local graveyard keeper hires the party to protect the cemetery during a night when the dead are supposed to rise. Um, twist with this, the undead aren't attacking randomly. They're all trying to, like, reach a certain spot, so you're trying to figure out how do you get to that spot, right? Um, you can have your skeletons, restless spirits, zombies, different kind of puzzles around the crypts and around the grave sites. Um, finale with this, the party uncovers the secret about the person buried there and why the dead are so desperate to get to them. Final one that I'm gonna try and finish this rapid fire off with is a Carnival of Curses. So a mysterious traveling carnival arrives outside of the town that you're at, and the visitors enter smiling, but nobody leaves quite the same. So the twist with this is, like, every [00:04:00] attraction is a magical challenge, and the carnival owner is collecting something from every visitor, so it could be, like, collecting their soul, their spirit, um, or you could go a bit more morbid with it and collecting, like, different parts maybe. Um, so encounter ideas with this is gonna be, like, cursed mirror maze, a rigged fortune teller, enchanted games, creepy performers like Cirque du Soleil style. Um, finale with this, the party has to defeat the carnival owner or escape the carnival itself. So that was super quick. There was five ideas for you to try and make a one-shot, hopefully before your, uh, one-shot this weekend. If not, you can always revisit this and do it anytime. I mean, why not have a fun one-shot to, like, break up what you're doing with your D&D group? So as always, like, comment, subscribe, drop different ideas down below, and we will catch y'all next time. See ya.

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3 D&D Classic Monsters that you Always See

By Jacob Tegtman • October 27, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTjh_PsRn3o Transcription Welcome back to Eternity TTRPG YouTube channel, where we talk about the world of Eternity as well as other tabletop role-playing games, D&D, and all the stuff in the genre that we can find. So this go around, ~I know it's been a little while since we posted, but ~I wanted to go ahead and just do something that I think everyone can get behind, which is talking about monsters that you find in tabletop role-playing games. ~Um, ~you're obviously gonna have your classic monsters that you see in D&D, and then we can just branch out from there, right? So reason this is coming up is that with the Sparks of Eternity Emanation, ~um, ~which is going really well, it's where you have your different classes, ~um, ~fighting each other to a duel to the end, right? ~And that's been great. It's been going great. ~We have a lot more classes in the works, but we were wondering, well, what could be next? And that's when you start looking at, like, armor, races, monsters, ~um, ~and, like, items and stuff, right? Because that's what makes a campaign happen is when you add all [00:01:00] of these things in. ~Um, ~so with that in mind, we started thinking monsters. ~Instead of having this PVP experience, we're talking, we're looking at more of a cooperative experience ~So now we're thinking classic monsters, and that has got to be the most classic of them are all is gonna be dragons, right? ' Cause you have anywhere from your dragon with the wings, fiery breath, always guarding something, guarding their pile of gold, or holding someone captive, or something like that. You're always gonna find that in any kind of mythology, lore, D&D campaign. Like, it's just... It's your classic thing. So how can we take this classic thing and switch it up a little bit? And this is where we started to wonder with our game design where to go, and we're still fleshing that out. ~Um, but I see great things in the works with it, right?~ Taking a classic thing and going a different direction. ~Um, ~other classic thing when you think of D&D monsters has got to be the mimic. ~Um, ~so that is, of course, [00:02:00] gonna be your shape-changing predator, right? You're going through a dungeon, you find a treasure chest, you think it's a normal chest, and turns out it's a mimic and it's trying to bite your face off. ~Total classic thing. Um, ~so how can we change this up? Is there a way to change up this D&D thing? ~Um, ~with that, my mind goes to what other inanimate objects can it become. Is it always gonna be your treasure chest, or could it be a table in the room? Or perhaps a weapon next to a, ~um, ~next to a skeleton, right? Because then you get this idea of, well, what if this, ~uh, ~sword just starts wielding on its own. ~Anyway, cool thought. But, you know, I just... ~It's fun to take things that you think are one way and just shift them completely, and I think that what... That is what makes the entire genre of tabletop role-playing so great is that we do take these different ideas, expand them, change them, and create something new. Eternity TTRPG has released a card game battler [00:03:00] which emulates combat from the tabletop role-playing genre. Sparks of Eternity Emanation is fast-paced, easy to learn, and features six classes from your favorite TTRPGs. Each class deck comes with its own set of unique abilities which everyone plays at the same time so there's never any downtime at your table. Each turn, everyone's characters levels up, giving players access to even more options. If you're interested in taking a look, we have our sales page live now, packed with details. ~Um, ~other D&D classic things has got to be the beholder. ~Um, you know, ~your floating eye with random tentacles coming off of it, right? That's what I think of when I think of a beholder. And I feel like that is used so much to depict what D&D is, and when I see that, all I think is D&D. I never go to anything else. So with those thoughts in mind, we have been trying to decide does [00:04:00] the world of Eternity, Sparks of Eternity, have a monster that just defines Eternity Or do we have, you know, an art style that defines it or, you know, ~just, ~just something that makes it different. And, you know, as always, I'm behind the scenes 'cause I get to be with the game maker and see all of his, ~uh, ~gears rotating, right? ~So I see things coming. I'm very excited to share those eventually. I do see that coming down the line. Um, ~but in the meantime, drop any ideas for monsters that you have below that you want to see, that you have seen, any ideas, just something. You know, use it as a giant brainstorming session. ~Um, ~as always, like, comment, subscribe. Let us know how we're doing. Give me any ideas you wanna see for upcoming news and we'll catch y'all next time.

Play Sparks of Eternity: Emanation Online

By Jacob Tegtman • October 23, 2026

Transcribed content from our recent YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzrUgzvlYE0 Transcription Welcome back to Eternity TT RPG YouTube channel, where I talk about different happenings in the tabletop role-playing universe from D&D to the game that my husband and I have been creating. Um, if you follow the channel, you know that we did come out with a card game combat tabletop role-playing game, and it's awesome. I'm super happy with it. I think we all are. Um, but as great as the physical game is, right, we wanted to expand. So we have it online now. And in this video, I'm just gonna walk you through how to get there, um, what you see, and a quick rundown of how to play. Um, so please, uh, take the time to check out the game and we'll jump right in. So to get to the website, um, that holds the online version of [00:01:00] Emanation, you're gonna go to play.sparksofeternity.com and from there it is gonna open up with a screen asking for your email and if there's any name that you want, like, the game to call you, um, your username, and that's it. You don't need a password. You don't need a credit card. You don't need anything. It is just good to go. And then this is the screen that you get. Um, I am just gonna go ahead and run you through everything that you see, and I may start a game as well. So everybody's, um, system is gonna open up with the assassin, um, the first character alphabetically. And you'll notice at the top that you're gonna have a few different other classes: berserker, druid, judge, oracle, and summoner. Um, at this point in time, players, you and I can only play the assassin, berserker, druid, and summoner. We are currently having just the computers play as the judge and oracle. Um, at some point, we are [00:02:00] going to open those up. We're just not there yet. So on this screen, it gives you a rundown of, like, who the assassin is, um, and how many life sparks they start with, your hit points, if they're more of a tactic player, a magic player, or a mix, um, how many of the cards take a D20 roll for that tabletop role-playing feel. And not to mention you have the amazing art for it, um, that tries to depict more of what the class is Um, other thing that you're gonna end up seeing is that it tells you, like, the cards that you get as you go. So you're always gonna start with your attack, defend, no action. And then for assassin specifically, you do have lethality. But then you can scroll over and you can see all of the abilities for each class so you kind of know what you're getting into before you play, which is really neat if you ask me to get a better feel for it before [00:03:00] you even jump into a game. Um, as far as jumping into a game, there's two different ways to do it right now. You can, um, play against computers or you can share the website with a friend, start a new room, and it's gonna give you a code like this. So you would send that code off to your friend, they would input the code and then they would choose, like, their character and off you go. Um, whatever character you have up here selected is the character you're gonna end up playing. Um, for the sake of just showing you guys, I am gonna do the assassin. Um, and then let's say you don't have any friends to play with, which, you know, I don't always have friends, but that's okay. You can add computer players. So I'm gonna add like three players and then I can pick what they are. So I'm okay with the judge, oracle and [00:04:00] berserker. That all sounds good. And then this last spot here is gonna be how long you want everyone to have to choose their ability or like their action for each turn. Um, when you're just getting started and learning the game, I do recommend more towards like the two or three minutes. Of course, if you don't take that long, the game will just continue anyway. Like if everybody's selected it'll just move on. But if you need that time to read and understand, then please take more time. Um, for, you know, my sake and knowing the game, I'm gonna go with 60 seconds and then we just start the match with four players So now we're on turn one. I do have a countdown timer up in this corner telling me how much time I have left. It does do a turn counter for me. This turn will always be turn zero because you are like a level zero character in the world. You're level zero with combat, you have no actions, you're not a fully fledged whatever class you [00:05:00] are, right? So this turn I am gonna go with defend. It shows me a little bit better and I hit play it. So now everybody's thing is gonna show and they're just gonna run through everything that happens. I am not clicking anything right now, it's just doing its thing. So they all attacked each other. I'm defending. It gives me a quick rundown down here of what happens, what abilities they're gaining, and then it tells you like what happened with health as well, which I think is really cool. Now I am level one. I now have access to assassinate and it also shows me what my other opponents are gaining down below. And now I can choose stuff to play. I'm gonna go ahead and do the assassinate one, which includes rolling a D20. We're gonna play it And now healing will always take priority. So that is what ha- is happening there. And then they decided to attack. They have a passive going on, so that [00:06:00] just got rolled. And now I'm gonna roll to assassinate. I didn't hit, so I won't select a target And now they're just finishing up anything that needs to resolve and onto the next round. So as you can see, it runs really quickly, um, which is just... I think it's great, you know? I think getting to have a feel for the game and see what's going on is just really neat. Um, other thing to note as you get further in the game, you're gonna notice, like, this person now has dual wield. If I scroll over that, I see what it is. It is a passive for them. Um, and that means that it gets rolled every turn and, um, we just gotta see if they hit every turn unless somebody dispels it. Um, or in this case, this one is immune to greater dispel. You can see that at the very bottom. You'll also notice that these little cards at the top right appeared, meaning that my opponents have already picked their cards and they're waiting on me. [00:07:00] Um, I think we're just gonna try to assassinate again 'cause, you know, I'm an assassin. I think that's great. So healing takes place first again. Healing takes place first and now they're doing the rest of their actions. They're rolling their passives And then I'll try to assassinate. Man, the rolls are bad. Um, and then everything else resolves. It goes over what people are gaining, and we go on to the next round. So this goes on for 10 rounds as far as like gaining different abilities, but the game ends at round 20. Um, by round 20, you're looking for, you know, um, being the last man standing or having the most life sparks at the end of the whole game. So that is a quick rundown on how the online game works. I think it's really neat that we do [00:08:00] have the, you know, physical version of it, and now we have an online version. It's crazy to see how quick it's all coming together. Um, I'll drop the link to this down below, so hopefully you guys, uh, decide to check it out. Let us know any questions, comments, concerns. Like and subscribe, and we will catch y'all next time. Thank you