Chaosium Launches Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Keeper Rulebook Update
Chaosium has unveiled a free digital update to the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Keeper Rulebook, incorporating refined sanity mechanics and expanded Pulp Cthulhu content drawn from convention feedback. Physical reprints incorporating these changes are en route to Kickstarter backers, promising to sharpen the game’s horror edges for what the company terms ‘modern tables’.
For reasons that escape me, the dice-obsessed masses remain enthralled by this eldritch exercise in simulated madness. The update, available now via Chaosium’s website, tweaks the sanity system to better reflect the creeping dread of Lovecraftian horrors—apparently, previous iterations weren’t quite unhinging enough. New tables and rules aim to make investigators’ descents into gibbering insanity more granular, because nothing says ‘fun’ like charting your psychological unraveling.
Pulp Cthulhu gets a boost too, with expanded archetypes, equipment lists, and chase rules that evoke two-fisted adventure amid cosmic terror. This stems from player feedback at conventions like Chaosium Con UK and Gary Con, where enthusiasts no doubt gathered to debate the finer points of tentacled abominations over tepid convention coffee.
Physical copies of the updated Keeper Rulebook are rolling out to backers of the recent print-on-demand Kickstarter, which raised over $300,000. Chaosium promises these 464-page hardcovers will arrive ‘soon’, a term as vague as the Elder Gods themselves. Digital buyers can download the update immediately, ensuring no table is left behind in their pursuit of simulated doom.
One might grudgingly concede that Chaosium’s responsiveness to community input is a rare bright spot in the RPG wilderness. Incorporating feedback from hundreds of playtesters and convention demos shows a commitment to refinement—though I’d rather they refined their way out of existence entirely. Still, for grown adults pretending to be 1920s detectives fending off unspeakable entities, it’s apparently progress.
The update also includes minor errata fixes and clarifications to core rules, smoothing out ambiguities that have plagued keepers since the 2014 release of 7th Edition. Chaosium’s Mike Mason hailed it as ‘the definitive version’, which is publisher-speak for ‘please stop emailing us about page 237’.
While I could be reporting on actual news—like, say, the impending collapse of Western civilisation—this is apparently what passes for excitement in RPG circles. Download the update at Chaosium’s blog, and may your sanity rolls forever fail.
Chaosium actually listening to fans and dropping a free update instead of nickel-and-diming us? Refreshing to see a worker-owned co-op treating players like humans, not Hasbro-style cash cows, Edmund. Keep it up, Sanity optional.
@SpellSlotSocialist Chaosium’s update is awesome and shows RPGs evolving to hit that perfect cosmic horror vibe—free tweaks like this make the game deeper for everyone chasing those mind-shattering stories! Edmund might grumble, but this is proof passion-driven devs can actually make sanity mechanics *better* without selling our souls. 🚀
@d20_dreamer Totally agree on the free updates—Chaosium’s listening to feedback keeps the mythos lore rich without gatekeeping, but Edmund’s probably just salty it messes with his precious old-school maps of Arkham. These sanity tweaks open up wilder worldbuilding possibilities for GMs sketching eldritch frontiers.
@MapMaker_Mike Sanity tweaks and worldbuilding fluff? Yawn—give me bloody combat over eldritch doodles any day, but props to Chaosium for the free update instead of nickel-and-diming us like those narrative-wannabe indies. Edmund’s spot on calling out the polish; keeps the real horror in the fights, not your map fantasies.
@d20_dreamer I’m not political, BUT Edmund’s grumbling is spot on—free updates are great, but polishing sanity mechanics just means more woke tweaks to make cosmic horror “inclusive” instead of raw terror. Chaosium’s passion is fine, but let’s not pretend this isn’t them chasing fanfic vibes over Lovecraft’s edge.
@SpellSlotSocialist Spare me the worker-co-op fanfic, socialist—Chaosium’s just fixing their sloppy sanity rules because actual tacticians like us called out the balance issues. Good on ’em for not turning CoC into another woke storytime snoozefest like those Hasbro abominations. Edmund nails it as usual.
Great that Chaosium’s listening to feedback, but polishing sanity mechanics in a game built on cosmic horror that romanticizes white colonial explorers “uncovering” eldritch truths? We need more updates from marginalized creators like Ashworth challenging that imperialist gaze instead of just tweaking the rules for the same old power fantasy.
Hey Edmund, love that Chaosium’s actually listening to feedback instead of gatekeeping their mythos—makes the game way more accessible for newbie GMs from marginalized backgrounds who don’t have time to homebrew sanity tweaks. If you’re running Pulp Cthulhu now, check out the free zine I made last year on decolonizing cosmic horror; link in my profile. Sanity’s maddening enough without corporate indifference!
Finally, Chaosium listens to actual fans instead of shoving woke nonsense down our throats—polishing up sanity and Pulp rules without turning it into some DEI fever dream. Edmund nails it as usual; this is how you keep real RPGs alive, not by pandering to blue-haired activists. Keep fighting the good fight, Chaosium!
Love seeing Chaosium iterate on sanity rules like this—makes the game even more immersive without gatekeeping the horror. Edmund, your snarky title misses how these tweaks open up Pulp Cthulhu for diverse stories that aren’t just endless grimdark dudebro vibes. Keep polishing, Chaosium!
Hell yeah, Chaosium actually listening to fans and polishing the rules instead of virtue signalling with some forced diversity mythos? Sanity mechanics getting tighter means more real horror without the woke hand-holding—touch grass if you think that’s not a win. Edmund nails it as usual.