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Pulp Cthulhu - Hardcover

$77.09
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CHA23107-H
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2.60 LBS
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Two-fisted action against Gods beyond Space and Time!

Do you dream of swinging on a vine into a temple of an ancient evil, just in time to kick the forbidden scroll from the hand of the cult leader?

Do you yearn to play a character dripping in quips, who can stand on the wing of a steadily ascending biplane, and who maybe, maybe just happens to "Know Kung-Fu"?

Then Pulp Cthulhu is the game for you!

Chaosium Unveiled: Inside Pulp Cthulhu

Watch the unveiling video to see the book for yourself. Remember that you get the PDF when getting the physical copy.

What’s Inside?

Pulp Cthulhu is a game of weird science, dark deeds, and larger-than-life heroes.

The Action Is The Juice (with Pulp)

Battling a Kraken

Pulp Cthulhu contains new rules, systems, and shake-ups to the core Call of Cthulhu experience to take your tabletop games to the world of 1930s pulp action. Increased Hit Points, ever-flowing Luck points, and adjustments to combat damage and survivability turn your ordinary Investigators into their very own Rick O’Connell.

A chart of Pulp Cthulhu Physical Talents

Keeping It Pulp

Facing a Ritual

Extensive advice for Keepers and players on the Pulp genre—including tips for maintaining the correct vibe, running your own Pulp adventures, as well as a collection of Pulp villains, monsters, and advice for creating your own.

Pulp Cthulhu also includes real-world history of pulp fiction, detailing the 1930s era when the United States was in the grip of the Great Depression and on the road to World War II.

A Pulp World Map

Campaign Kick-Starter Adventures

Pulp Cthulhu includes four scenarios playable with new or pre-generated heroes provided. Each scenario also includes full-color maps and handouts.

The Disintegrator

A wealthy scientist hires the heroes to gatecrash a private auction, and acquire a device known as a “disintegrator.”

Waiting For The Hurricane

Stranded on an island in the Florida Keys, the heroes must ride a hurricane to safety, and uproot the sinister plans of a cult seeking to use the weather as a cover for their dark deeds.

Pandora’s Box

The fabled artifact “Pandora’s Box” is now housed in a local nightclub as a publicity stunt—but otherworldly bad luck seems to follow all those who chance upon it.

A Slow Boat to China

A voyage from San Francisco to Shanghai promises rest and relaxation, but an evil intent on controlling powers from beyond ensures this trip will be anything but restful.

Downloads for this Product

 
Handouts
 
Character Sheets

Play online with our Licensed Partners

Do you play on a Virtual Tabletop? Our partners offer products for playing this scenario online.

What The Critics Say

Pulp ENnies

  • "Pulp Cthulhu turns up the action and the threat to turn Lovecraftian investigative horror into Lovecraftian heroic horror."

    — >Reviews from Rl’yeh, Pulp Cthulhu II.

  • Runner-up, Best Artwork and Presentation

    — Golden Geek Awards 2016, 11th Annual Golden Geek Awards Winners for 2016!.

  • "If you play Call of Cthulhu, do you need this supplement? ...if you want to play with a rule set deliberately intended to help your characters kick some ass, you'll probably have a lot of fun with Pulp Cthulhu."

    — H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society, Pulp Cthulhu Review.

  • Pulp Cthulhu is one of those products that could very easily have been done wrong. It’s a genre full of easy cop-outs and shortcuts, but Chaosium stuck to their guns and delivered on all fronts… You might be able to confront the creatures of the mythos to some extent, but Pulp Cthulhu only promises that you can go down swinging rather than screaming and that’s not a bad thing."

    — Jay Anyong, The Philippine Gamer, Review: Pulp Cthulhu.

  • "I love the classic, cerebral, investigative feeling of Call of Cthulhu. I have to admit however that many times I wanted my Investigators to, basically, kick some serious ass... Pulp Cthulhu is here for that ass-kicking!"

    — Antonio S., RPGNet Review.

  • "It’s a beautiful book, brimming with content and ideas.  A worthy purchase for any Keeper, even if Pulp isn't to your taste."

    — Total Party Kill, Pulp Cthulhu.

  • "I love the Pulp Cthulhu idea. Having pulp heroes fight evil cult organizations can be tons of fun… The production quality deserve(s) praise. The binding, illustrations, artwork, handouts are exceptional. The books are super-high quality and even come with a red ribbon bookmark bound into the text. Chaosium did not skimp on any aspect of production..."

    — GrogHeads, GrogHeads Reviews Pulp Cthulhu and The Two-Headed Serpent.

  • "Pulp Cthulhu is a hoot. PCs get amazing Talents, more hit points, and a wider stretch of Luck. But the villains get a boost too and as weird as Mythos monsters are, some of the supervillains are pretty darned strange also... To me, this is an essential Basic Roleplaying RPG set of rules. Get this book and punch the Mythos right in its tentacled face."

    — Charles Dunwoody, EN World Review.

  • "With this book, Chaosium has given Keepers and players the tools to lean fully into Pulp."

    — Matthew J. Constantine, Tabletop RPG Review: Pulp Cthulhu.

  • “If you’re looking for a system that gives your players a fighting chance check this out!”

    — Stygian Muse, RPG Review: Pulp Cthulhu.

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PDF Product Name: [Pulp Cthulhu - PDF]
PDF Product Link: [/pulp-cthulhu-pdf/]

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ISBN:
9781568820910
Page count:
272
Format:
Color Hardcover with PDF
Authors:
Mike Mason, Alan Bligh, James Lowder, Jeff Tidball, Glyn White, Paul Fricker, Wolfgang Baur, Matt Sanderson, Scott Dorward, and Dan Kramer.
  • Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star 5
    Love it

    Posted by SCOTT CATONE on 9th Feb 2024

    I am exited to use this for my next campaign, the ideas are great

  • Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star 5
    Great pulp ruleset

    Posted by Unknown on 18th Aug 2023

    turns cthulhu from a suspense driven horror game to a pulpy action horror game

  • Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star 5
    Best Way to Campaign

    Posted by Katosepe on 16th May 2023

    I love vanilla Call of Cthulhu for its gritty, down to earth investigators. It can be tough running ongoing stories though since characters constantly dying or going insane does throw a wrench in character storytelling. For these, Pulp Cthulhu is the way to go. Encounters and chases are still deadly but now one bad hit won't grind your campaign to a halt for 3 months as the PC recovers. Also adds rules for easier spellcasting (if that's something you want) and some other fun abilities that turn your OG Lovecraft story into something more akin to Indiana Jones.

  • Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star 5
    Yet another amazing supplement

    Posted by Thomas Connole on 25th Oct 2021

    This is easily the best supplement that Chaosium has come out with for CoC 7E. From the amazing art to the very fun and creative new rules that dramatically change the feel of the game, chaosium just keeps knocking it out of the park. If you are looking to jazz up the game for your players and really change the game from a horror to an action / pulping game. Another plus is the amount of scenarios and love given to this supplement and how easy is it to modify other scenarios to fit the theme.

  • Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star 5
    Exactly what we were looking fror!

    Posted by Michael Niesner on 25th Nov 2020

    Great addition to the rules! Very nice finish on the cover and a red ribbon to mark your place (like the core book). I love how the core book and these optional rules come with their own adventures so you can get started right away with out having to buy extra modals!

  • Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star 5
    Call of Cthulhu Meets 1950’s Weird Adventure!

    Posted by Rondy Reeves on 17th Oct 2020

    Have you ever felt that your Players were just too squishy or too prone to fall into permanent madness? Well, that’s half the fun of Call of Cthulhu! But Pulp Cthulhu is here for Keepers that want to take their CoC games up a notch, toss in some weird science, and make your Players tougher and more capable of standing up to the Mythos. If Call of Cthulhu is all about psychological horror and dread then Pulp Cthulhu is a ttrpg akin to Indiana Jones, except with Mythos monsters instead of Nazis, although you can certainly toss some of them in there if you wish. Pulp adds lots of options to make Player Characters more able to survive a hit and less likely to succumb to insanity, although they still can and you can add as much or as little Pulp as you wish - the rules are in here to help you do it. There’s also rules for Mooks, those easily-replaceable and seemingly never ending henchmen of would-be world conquerors or world-enders, and they’re a lot of fun. There’s also a large section on Weird Science items, weapons, and equipment to really liven up your campaign! Pulp Cthulhu is every bit as much fun as regular CoC and some people even prefer it over regular CoC. If you do not have a copy, well, I can only assume it’s because your mind is being controlled by Nyarlathotep himself. Show him who is really the boss by clicking ‘Add to Cart’ and then buy this puppy before it’s too late! You won’t regret it.

  • Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star 5
    Weird Science Monster Mahen PULP IT UP!!!

    Posted by THE Anita S. Moore on 23rd Apr 2019

    I've had the book for a while now. My players love it.We love the pace, action, and system. I've run several original CoC scenarios as Pulp Cthulhu, including Shadows of Yog Sothoth! Lost a PC to alt dimension on Rlyeh. Tanked the LUCK and got her back.... half sane, but able to navigate to the boats. Scenarios included in the Pulp book are great for beginners and easily expanded for more advanced players. The tour de force for this system is The Two-Headed Serpent! The campaign is build for Pulp Cthulhu and absolutely delivers. I suggest checking out Seth Skorkowski's video review, as well. PCs have occupations, and attributes, per the norm. And also archetypes like "two-fisted" and "Weird Science" and "Sidekick" and "Thrill Seeker" Extra points for these. Extra traits for these. Certain death? Not if you have a minimum of 30 LUCK point. Didn't quite make an action roll of some kind? Push it! Explain what more intense effort your pc can attempt and roll again. Great success= great reward. Great fail is GREAT FAIL when pushed. And the dark side of things is well supplied. Mooks, Killer Robots. Pretty much any classic Pulp villain. All in all a great supplement, game changer yet preserving the classic feel and brain crawling sanity breaking events of the original Call of Cthulhu. Big Thumbs Up. Like, IA!.. n stuff!

  • Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star Full Star 5
    High Pulp

    Posted by Codi on 9th Apr 2017

    Awesome rule changes if your players get sick of the dying and going insane. Opens the system up to a more action packed game. Character creation is beefed up and there are D&D style traits to make players feel more capable. Highly suggested if you like Call of Cthulu but tend to run a game that is more beat'em up than cerebral horror.