The Stars Are Right: Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Arrives!

These Great Old Ones, Castro continued, were not composed altogether of flesh and blood. They had shape — for did not this star-fashioned image prove it? — but that shape was not made of matter. When the stars were right, They could plunge from world to world through the sky; but when the stars were wrong, They could not live. But although They no longer lived, They would never really die...

- H.P. Lovecraft, "The Call of Cthulhu"


It's about two and a half years after the original target date, but at long last the physical copy of Call of Cthulhu 7th edition arrived at my house today. I thought about doing a video unboxing but I'm not much of a video recorder. So let's walk through some snapshots...


Here's the box with a nice little book covering up my address. The poor box seems like it has been through a lot...




Clearly Chaosium took some of the early reports of damaged books seriously. Either that or they shipped me a box of cardboard.



Oh good, I received more than just cardboard. At the top we've got a copy of Nameless Horrors.



Next up is S. Petersen's Guide to Lovecraftan Horrors. Everything in great condition so far.



And here is the top of the main slipcase. Let's see how it looks...



Within we can see the Keeper Screen, Investigator Handbook, and Keeper Rulebook. Below are some more images of the books...














Hey I'm in the book!





Back in December 2014 I posted my First Thoughts on the new game. I should at some point give the game a full review, especially since I've now clocked some time playing it. The books are very nicely done, especially the Investigator Handbook and Keeper Rulebook. They are now up for general pre-order at Chaosium.  At $44.95 and $54.95 respectively for the hardcovers (which come with digital versions as well), they are not cheap. Looking at my $100 Kickstarter pledge I got one hell of a deal (coming with the other books I showed as well). 

Are they worth it? I certainly think so. There is some overlap between the books - both contain basic rules and character generation. The Investigator Handbook has more character options and lots of details about Investigator groups while the Keeper Rulebook has a lot more details about combat, creatures, spells, etc. I'd love to see a lower price but for a full-color book - the D&D corebooks go for $25-$30 at Amazon for example, though those games almost certainly have a much larger print run - and I'm going to give the Cthulhu books more points on presentation and completeness. That's a matter of personal choice of course. It's also worth noting that the Keeper Rulebook clocks in at 450 pages while the D&D Monster Manual is, for example, about a hundred pages shorter. 

I'm very pleased with my books and offer congratulations to the Chaosium team for getting this over the finish line. 

I'm also going to have a hard time keeping my mind on a superhero game right now. The stars are right dammit!

That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.





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