Call of Cthulhu Starter Set

This high quality box set has everything a new Keeper needs to begin a Call of Cthulhu campaign. The set is worth purchasing just to try out the game. The three scenario book's material included with the introductory rules becomes increasingly lengthier and more difficult, with the stand-out scenario being the classic "Edge of Darkness." Buy this now for yourself or your friends!

I will premise this review by saying I am a huge fan of these RPG starter boxes many publishers are releasing. I have purchased every one I have come across. It is for this reason I feel comfortable saying this Starter Box is easily the best one on the market today and is in the running for best Starter Box ever. Ok clearly, you can tell I love this set. The parts are of a high manufacturing quality and provide an easy way to introduce one of the greatest RPGs to a whole new audience. In fact unlike most Starter Sets which have one single adventure that usually played for a couple hours, this set includes 3 adventures that will provide you with 15 hours of gaming time. If your group never plays another CoC adventure this set is more than worth what you pay for it. Some of the more astute readers of this review are likely saying “Hey...the description says there are 4 adventures! Explain yourself Sir! I have no time for your falsehoods!” Well...I kept the fourth adventure, which gets its own book, separate. The fourth adventure is actually quite special. It is a solo adventure that teaches you how to play the game! The inclusion of a solo adventure to teach the game is sheer genius! It makes learning the game fun and easy. One thing many people don’t know, and certainly won’t tell you is the QuickStart rules in this set and the QuickStart PDF (you can download that for free on this very site) are almost identical except for one major factor...the Starter adventure is different from those presented in. The Starter Box. That means you can add a couple extra hours of playing time to your group at no additional cost! All is not perfect with this set though. I do have a few small nit picked points that would make the next iteration of the Starter Set even better. 1. The box is not big enough. By that I mean it would be nice if it could hold more stuff. Currently, I have added the Keepers Screen and the stuff it came with. I barely holds everything. I would like to hold a couple extra printed adventures and supplements. This is standard for how I use my Starter boxes, as storage and as something to transport the game and supplements to my gaming destination. 2. The books would be better served with a better cover. They will not stand up to too much abuse on the tabletop. Ideally, this cover would be exactly like the cover on the scenario book thats included with the Keepers Screen. 3. As much as the included dice set is a very nice touch, it would have been cool to a set of cool custom dice that was only available in the Starter set. To finish up this review, this is one of the few products I can confidently say belongs on the shelf of every person who plays RPGs. For a small investment you get hours and hour and hours of adventures with one of the best RPGs ever!

I just received this set this morning. I was a backer of the 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu Kickstarter at the all-in digital level so for the most part, I already own most of the content. It was an odd thing that I can't explain; I really felt compelled to buy a physical copy of this starter set in spite of my disclosure above. I don't know what 'Arcane Magicks' :-) were wrought on this, but I couldn't resist, buying direct from Chaosium to get the PDF version included as well. The contents are beautifully presented in a slightly larger (approx 31cms by 23cms by 2.5cms) box than your average RPG book. The box is the same size as boxed sets from CoCs previous versions, so it does not look out of place on my CoC shelf. The box is very sturdy, and FULL. The books are beautifully printed in full colour on a thinner glossy paper stock. Lightweight cardstock covers for the three books (56 pages, 24 pages, 80 pages), especially the Starter Rules, might have been a nice touch. The investigator sheets are all looseleaf (4 pregenerated investigators and 4 blank forms, all double sided on matt paper) The Handouts booklet (16 pages) which reproduces the handouts from Book Three: Adventures, is printed in colour, but double sided, so you'll need to copy pages if you want to cut and separate the handouts for use. Single sided, individual sheets would have been preferable here to be able to use the contents straight out of the box. There are four included adventures, A solo adventure in book one to introduce you to the system. The other three adventures, included in book three have all been released in earlier editions of Call of Cthulhu. They have been updated and revised here for 7th edition, including new illustrations. They are all very entertaining and worthy inclusions, increasing the value of the box purchase. Most other starter sets I have seen only include one or two small adventures. The only other paper items included are a single 'What's in the Box' double sided sheet and another single double sided sheet advertising MetaArcade's Cthulhu Chronicles Digital game. The included dice are very good quality with a nice 'heft', but are not as shown in the photographs of the content on the box and online, which I believe show the Q-workshop 7th edition set. The dice you receive are: d4, d6, d8, 2d10 (ones and tens), d20 all in a neutral grey, and a second d10 (tens) dice in a medium dark blue). No d12 is included as it not used in CoC. I only mention this to help manage customer expectations. The dice you get are good, just not what you might be expecting, appearance wise. The dice also hammered the top edge of the books during the international trip (I'm in Australia). All the books and sheets are slightly dented, and the back sheet of the handouts booklet was slightly torn. The damage is aesthetic only. It does not affect the use of any of the box content. Overall, I am very pleased with the purchase. There is a LOT of content and value included. Presentation is excellent and attractive. With a quick trip to the copy shop, if you don't own a printer (for the handouts) you're ready to start playing.

I just received this set today, and it's really great! Well made, and it contains all I need to (finally) get firmly into Call of Cthulhu, including a fantastic assortment of pre-gen characters and a book with three adventures to run (rather than the one included in most starter sets like this!). Do be aware, though, that the nice box it comes in is *slightly* larger than standard RPG box sets. Not a huge issue, but considering it will not fit on my RPG shelf...well, it's really messing with my OCD.

I bought this on impulse...I already own the FULL version of the rules. Worth every penny... Chaosium's Stars are Burning Bright...Ia! Ia!!