Best Call of Cthulu edition for new players?

7th Edition. Whether people like it or not it's a lot easier to make characters with and the only problem is slight too many rules for combat and incompatability (easily fixable) for previous scenarios.

Tips
>Plan entire immediate area out
>Basic Floorplans are fine but indepth maps are better
>For every character planned, a personality, a first impression and a hidden secret. It makes characters so much easier to do.
>Random list of names to make up characters on the spot with
>Preplanned events, e.g thunderstorm on the second night, midnight murder on the third, player nightmare on the fourth.
>Spoopy music makes everything better
>Remember not to take away too much player agency and free will

File: 1330906705599.png (607KB, 653x628px) Image search: [Google]

607KB, 653x628px

>>51347550

Any really, there isn't a massive amount of difference between them. 7th is all new and shiny and has the benefit of separate books so players can only have the player book and the Keeper can keep their secrets a bit better.

I will admit CoC isn't the most straightforward RPG to GM or play but it is well regarded (and rightly so IMO). It isn't about stats, and it certainly isn't about floormaps. It is about atmosphere and the devil being in the detail (sometimes literally).

Out of interest why has your group picked CoC as its first game?

File: 1335062177356.jpg (322KB, 716x1024px) Image search: [Google]

322KB, 716x1024px

Also what kind of game are you going for? Gaslight? Classic 1920s? Antiquarian? Pulp?

>>51348027
The core reason is that we didn't want to play an RPG in a fantasy setting and, being new to RPG's (we've played a tonne of board games), COC is the other 'big' rpg that comes to mind after DND and Pathfinder.
The Lovecraft theme is a big bonus though, Arkham Horror is a consistent favourite and 3 of the 4 of us are fans of his writing. That being said, if theres a much better system for new players you can think of I'm all ears.

GUMSHOE is a good system for beginners, pretty rules-lite, and is mostly based around the investigating and role playing aspects. It also has a few different games under the system, so you can experiment with different kinds of horror.

File: 1316733270787.jpg (50KB, 500x508px) Image search: [Google]

50KB, 500x508px

>>51348176

Yea, it has become big especially in the last ten years. When I was introduced to the RPG it was the first time I had ever heard of Lovecraft or Cthulhu. Now he gets shout outs in South Park and nods in Rick and Morty, which is neat.

The Chaosium CoC is a great game, but not without its quirks. Some of these were addressed quite tell in Trail of Cthulhu, by Ken Hite, which uses the pretty straightforward (if a bit abstract) Gumshoe system. While building a character in Trail is a bit more complicated than spending points between 1-99 like in CoC Trail takes away some of the dice roll uncertainty that can sometimes detract from the horror of a game rather than contributing to it.

Still if you have/are HPL fans and are familiar with the stories, and thus hopefully the idea that the player characters, while they might be the protagonists are ultimately quite inconsequential, and can get on board with the legality and character degeneration then I am sure you will get a kick out of CoC.

If you are not into fantasy would actually like something a bit more heroic then your group might enjoy one of the less horror-esq World of Darkness games like Werewolf or Mage.

File: 62b6c325aaca1335d99637ebffdb4195.jpg (73KB, 464x600px) Image search: [Google]

73KB, 464x600px

>>51348176
you could also run a game set in hp lovecraft's dreamlands if you want to

>>51348176
>>51348401

If they are wanting to avoid a fantasy setting I am not sure the Dreamlands would be the best way to go. That being said the Dreamlands doesn't fall into many of the RPG fantasy cliches. It's weirder than that!

>>51347550
Also, don't delve into the mythos shit too early. If you give your characters d20san grimores at the end of the second scenario then your game will be short and shit. Never mention the name of the monster/diety, always by pseudonyms. Patience is key.

>>51348752
yeah thats what i mean

>>51348795

Wise words. As far as 'mythos' stuff goes, a little can go a long way.