Investigator Handbook

Call of Cthulhu RPG

by Mike Mason

Will you stand against the horrors of the night?
Whether learned professor, nosy journalist, or hard-hitting detective, investigators need all the help they can get. Let this book be your guide. The Investigator Handbook is an essential player's aid for the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition roleplaying game.

Written for those who will be playing the roles of investigators, the Investigator Handbook contains expanded rules for creating players characters, a wealth of over 100 occupations and skill descriptions, as well as guidance on getting the most from the game. What's more, there's a range of organizations for your investigator to belong to, detailed information about the classic 1920s setting, equipment and weapons for both the 1920s and modern day, and expert tips and advice for all budding investigators.

No self-respecting investigator of the Cthulhu Mythos should be without it!

Genres: Role Playing Games, Horror, Gaming, Reference, Cthulhu Mythos, Fiction, Fantasy

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Line Developer and Editor for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, freelance author and game designer.

Reviews

[Dustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Call of Cthulhu is the closest I've ever seen to a perfect RPG.

The setting is rich and deep, the mechanics encapsulate and bolster the themes wonderfully, and it facilitates such amazing collaborative storytelling. A must have in any RPG collection in my opinion, and you should try it with your gaming group if you haven't yet!

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an outstanding sourcebook for the 7th edition Call of Cthulhu game. That game is based on the cosmic horror writings of H.P. Lovecraft, and this book will help any player of the game become immersed in that fictional world. The book covers everything one needs to make a player character (called "investigators" in this particular game) and -- this is important -- nothing else. There is hardly anything here about the technicalities of how the rules work, because those elements of the game are the purview of the Keeper (game master) and not only unnecessary for players to know, but could in a very real sense be considered spoilers. I find that far too many roleplaying game sourcebooks put aspects a player doesn't need to (and in many cases shouldn't) know into the players' hands, either by having only one book that everyone (both players and GMs) reads, or else by having a player rulebook that has every last detail of combat, spells, and the like in it (yes, I'm looking right at you, D&D 5th edition Players' Handbook). I applaud the folks at Chaosium for separating out what players actually need to know to roleplay in the game system, and leaving all the hardcore mechanical stuff to the Keeper (GM). I wish more games did this.

In terms of organization and writing, the Investigator Handbook is very well organized -- it places everything in the proper order, from the more general (basic character stats) to the more specific (occupation, then skills). This is the same order in which one would create a character, so that one can go through the book from chapter 1 forward, and as each chapter is reached, complete the next aspect of character creation. The book is written in a readable style, and the English, grammar, etc. are all good -- better than many other roleplaying game sourcebooks, in fact. I only found one typo ("where" instead of "were") in all 288 pages. The book is clear and concise about what it tells you, and there were no places in which I found the rules confusing, or worse self-contradictory (again, I'm looking right at you, D&D 5th edition). However, I will state that I have not actually played Call of Cthulhu using these rules yet (first I need to find people who want to play it with me), and only in play can some of the conflicting or confusing aspects of a game's rules come out. But I did not notice any with my practiced eye while reading the rules.

Regarding the hardcover print version of this book, I can say without hesitation that the product quality is exceptional. The pages are heavy glossy stock that feels fantastic against the fingers. The color images are gorgeous and printed beautifully. The book even comes with its own bookmark ribbon -- the first time I've ever seen that in a roleplaying game handbook. Chaosium did a fantastic job on the printing and binding -- in terms of physical production, this book is superior to every other game product I have owned previously (I'm looking right at you, Champions 4th edition rulesbook, which fell apart within months of purchase).

Finally, I want to give them kudos for a full reprint of one of H.P. Lovecraft's most famous short stories -- "The Dunwich Horror." It was certainly not necessary for them to reprint a Lovecraft short story in their rulebook, but the fact that they dedicated 19 pages of text and 3 pages of stunning artwork, or almost 10% of the book length, to the reprinting of a Lovecraft story tells you just how much the designers love his work, and that appreciation shows in everything they have done from page 1 to the end of the book.

I can't say enough good things about this sourcebook. For someone interested in learning this game or planning to play as an Investigator, you could not do better than this book. And as someone who at this point is more of a collector than player of roleplaying games (I only play in one game, but I have the rules for many), you cannot find a higher quality printed product on the market.

[Ferio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Desengañémonos: es raro que un jugador de rol que no sea director de juego se compre el manual específico para jugadores, sobre todo cuando la mayoría de la información que contiene es pertinente para ambas partes: sistemas alternativos de creación de personajes (que han de ser supervisados y acordados), información sobre el trasfondo (útil para todo el mundo), etc. Cuando, además, muchas de las páginas son idénticas a las del manual del director de juego, te preguntas hasta qué punto está justificado el gasto cuando podrían haberlo incluido todo en un único volumen. Enorme e inmanejable, sí, pero un único volumen.

Además, los manuales para los jugadores siempre me parecen los más sosos por esa orientación a la discreción sobre los sistemas de juego y las realidades ocultas. Este tiene cosas chulas, pero son ideas de partidas y trasfondos como los que pueden encontrarse en las innumerables fuentes ignotas de saber arcano (es decir, en los portales de juegos de rol).

Si acaso, salva al manual la bellísima edición en papel satinado a color, llena de ilustraciones y fotografías reales de los años 20 del siglo pasado que, como decía aquel filósofo, ensanchecen el espíritu.

[Ramón Nogueras Pérez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un muy útil manual que, si te has leído el La llamada de Cthulhu. Manual del guardián repite gran parte del mismo (en lo tocante a las reglas de habilidades y creación de personajes y equipo), así como información de ambientación que puede ser útil para el jugador en la mesa, a modo de referencia.

Podría haber sido más breve y haber incluido las reglas de combate, cordura y persecuciones, siendo más útil aún. No es imprescindible, pero no está mal.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given that this book is a sidecar to the Keeper Rulebook, I will be brief in some of the superlatives on this game and Chaosium's excellent newer releases. See that other review of mine for more on those.

What I will say about Call of Cthulhu's Investigator Handbook is it is a well-written, nicely complete reference for players of the game. It includes significant expansions to the character creation rules from the KR and a great deal of material for fleshing out a game set in the 1920s. If you don't own any of the previous CoC publications covering life in the Roaring 20s, this book probably has everything you need. If you do, possibly (just possibly), you could skip this volume or get the less expensive PDF.

That's not my recommendation, though. The book is beautiful, the writing strong, the content useful. Unless you are suffering from a significant budget crunch, anyone looking to play CoC should have this book.

Highly recommended.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great, great game and this is a terrific update. Honestly reflects the original intent and game play with some great modern RPG improvements. Really hope I get a chance to run this system again. SOON!

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, the book is reasonably well-designed and chock-full of good material for inspiring players before they dive into the world the game is set in. And no, I didn't read it cover to cover so maybe my low rating is slightly undeserved, or at least a little uninformed. But honestly, it's almost 300 pages; the player's sourcebook is just as bloated and messy as the system it's introducing. I realize it's giving you an excruciating level of detail required to play/run games in two different time periods (1920s and modern day), but it's just too much. And that's coming from someone who is normally one of those weirdos who loves inventory management and tracking items and currency gained/spent in games. I'm the notetaker of my D&D group and the one who remembers items we picked up a dozen sessions ago, yet I dislike the inanity of the rigid and overly detailed CoC item system. I don't need to know what every minor piece of camping equipment cost in 1927 in order to have a good time roleplaying that time period.

I realize that my limited experience playing it with a group that ended up imploding just a few sessions in may not be representative of the intended experience, but I honestly don't see the appeal of most of the system itself. How it's written versus how it actually plays out isn't a good match, so it makes character creation misleading. And the plethora of skills is just dizzying and difficult to keep track of, especially when some of them may never come up, or come up so infrequently that they aren't worth investing in unless you have inside knowledge from your GM before starting a campaign about what is going to be useful. There are 45+ skills on your character sheet at the start, before you even get into specialties within those skills, which are each statted separately. Plus, the transferrable skills mechanic for multiple specialties is poorly developed and just forces you to pour more points into a single skill and multiple disciplines within it to be worthwhile.

If you do plan to attempt playing it, I recommend playing a one-shot and then starting fresh with new characters once everyone has had a chance to familiarize themselves with actual gameplay. Or have the GM allow people to rework their character sheets after a session or two of a campaign. Ignore any advice the book gives you on how skill points should be distributed on the basis of experience/education, because you will be wildly understatted if something isn't an area of professional expertise. Be prepared to fail your rolls most of the time. The system is punishing, and I get that people like the option of more "realistic" systems where you fail more often than in games like D&D where you basically become superhuman in some areas, but I don't think CoC hits the mark on that. Its mechanics are unrealistic and unbalanced in the other direction, to the point of being suspension-of-disbelief breaking and even gamebreaking in some scenarios. Don't even bother trying to create a DEX-focused, ranged weapons-only character if your GM is running combat by the book. Regardless of your character's background, put some not-insignificant amount of points into Brawl unless you don't expect to end up in close-quarters combat at any point.

On the good side, the sanity mechanic is fun, and easily the best part of the game system. Honestly, if I want to play a Lovecraftian horror game in future, I think I'd take just setting inspiration from CoC and homebrew a version of the sanity mechanic into another system that's less of a mess.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the current “player’s handbook” text for the seventh edition of the world’s oldest horror-themed Role-Playing Game. In line with current standards of gaming, it is fairly light on rules and heavy on character development and atmosphere. In that latter respect, though, it seems oddly light-hearted and devoid of the cosmic dread I recall permeating earlier editions. It would be easy to adapt this rulebook for characters involved in a 1920s crime-busting campaign, for example, or one with mild supernatural overtones ala “The Shadow” (although it’s not really action-oriented enough for a fast-paced superhero campaign). Although other eras, including modern and Victorian, are suggested, there isn’t all that much here to support those settings without further supplements. Elements from the old system, like Sanity points and the “Cthulhu Mythos” skill are about all that seems to remain of the original tone.

There may be a degree of spoiler-concern behind this. By saving most of the details of Eldritch Horror for the Keeper’s Handbook and other supplements, these rules avoid giving away details of the types of beings and arcane secrets their characters are intended to uncover. Anyone already familiar with Lovecraft’s corpus, of course, is already informed on that score. Still, keeping the details out of the average player’s hands has a logic to it, that was long-ago established in games like “Paranoia” wherein the ignorance of the player characters is fundamental to the game environment.

I found the current Professions and Skill System to be quite comprehensive and practical. The most interesting part of the book, for me, was the “Investigator Organizations” – something that did not exist in my day, that could add considerable flavor to the campaign. The inclusion of “The Dunwich Horror” in its entirety at the beginning was nice, but really unnecessary, and much of the historical information toward the back of the book is sketchy or inaccurate – at least from the point of view of someone with a Master’s in History who focused on the early Twentieth Century. YMMV, as they say.

[Pieter · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Investigator Handbook is at its core a player's handbook for the Call of Cthulhu table top roleplaying game. It consists of four parts. There is a section on what a roleplaying game is and more importantly, what Lovecraftian horror is including the story The Dunwich Horror. Then we get character generation and skills, followed by a section on playing a character in Call of Cthulhu and finally a short section on the 1920s in the USA.

The book serves its purpose to a large extend with helping players set up their characters without revealing any of the secrets of the world, it does fall short at some points. There are a few minor nit picks in regards to odd profession and skill choices (calling diving in the 1920s uncommon is one thing, but in the modern time? I certainly know a lot more people who dive/have dives then who have ever piloted an airplane). The biggest complaint though is that it lacks a section on the basic rules, which clashes a bit with the first chapter. Why go into detail on what kind of game this is (aimed at new players who know little about CoC) and yet assume the players know the basic mechanics (or leave that to the gamemaster or "Keeper" to explain after having read the Keeper's Rulebook)? I have played the game a couple of times years ago, and I certainly felt a bit confused by some the rule references. From what I remember the rules are pretty straightforward, so why not remove a page or two from the example investigator organizations and add two or three basic pages on the game mechanics especially sanity?

Still, if I am going to run a campaign with players who at least have a basic understanding of the setting and the game mechanics, it is a good book for them to own/read and use to help create their new characters. So in that regards it fulfils its purpose.

[Brian Finch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am new to CoC. Tomorrow a group of friends will begin out first campaign. I am curious how the game play will be. Reading a book only lets you understand a fraction of the intent. The real test will be tomorrow when the shit hits the fan.

So far, I am impressed with the for-thought this book placed. To me, it reads like someone who was frustrated with some of the mechanics of DnD and this is a reaction. I will add more later, once I have played the game.

[Toevolution · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Call of Cthulhu Investigators Handbook contains expanded rules for creating player characters, a host of over 100 occupations and skill descriptions, as well as a guide to getting the most out of the game.

Call of Cthulhu Investigators Handbook (PDF-Online Reading-Download-Summary-Review): https://www.toevolution.com/blog/view...

[Aragorn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great sourcebook for playing the "Call of Cthulhu" rpg. It has many useful pieces of period information, helpful tables, and photocopiable maps and character sheets. Is it a mandatory book Needed to play? No. However if you want the complete experience, I highly recommend getting for yourself and or your players.

[Matthew J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not at all necessary to run/play the game, this is a handy resource. It will likely make a nice addition to a night of gaming, especially if some players are unsure of just what to do. There's a lot of advice for play and info on the 1920s.

[Arthur B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though not required for play, it makes for a handy reference for players and presents some additional options and ideas of use. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slipcase edition, unopened

[Drew Reilly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess my biggest question is what value does this add to the Keepers Handbook? Of course, it adds to the player experience, but is it a necessity?

[John Dahlke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely well done rule book for CoC

[Tomaž · Rating 4 out of 5]

Horror is not my favourite genre, but I like to check out different RPGs every now and then, and Call of Cthulhu has been around for quite some time.
I like the underlying system, especially how experience works. While the system is tailored to Lovecraftian horror, it's simple and generic enough that it could be adapted to any genre with little fuss.