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Rob Handley
Thailand
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
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Hi,
Many years ago I had the 3rd Edition hardback 'Call of Cthulhu' rulebook, but time went by and I eventually mislaid it....  Now here I am wanting to replace it, and everything on ebay is just sooooo expensive, stating OOP! (Out Of Print) so warranting big cash..... the latest edition appears to be the 6th with a soft cover and is cheaper to buy than the old 3rd edition......... so, calling to you experts out there, could anyone advise me whether the 6th edition is worse/as good as/better than the 3rd - from an artwork/nice to keep/ point of view?
Thanks,
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Kevin H.
United States
Crescent City
California
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I'd say yes, the layout and art is generally better. But it's so similar that it's really splitting hairs.
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James Ramey
United States
Portland
Oregon
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From what I hear, Chaosium is working on a 7th ed. book due out sometime this year. That'll probably drop the 6th ed price down a bit, if you can wait.
While I haven't owned earlier editions, I've heard that 6th ed. is the "best" edition because of the new artwork, layout, some editing and the like.
Best of luck!
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Barad The Dwarf
Belgium
De Haan
Got some sanity left?
Come over to the RPGG Tavern, I buy you a drink.
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The general comment is that the game actually itself didn't change throughout these editions. It's just getting rid of typo's and making things smoother on the way. So basicly it's the same book. I use 6th and I just find it very good.
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Freelance Police
United States
Palo Alto
California
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I wouldn't even buy the core book. There's a free download which pretty much has all the rules you need to play and, of course, lets you give each player their own copy. The adventures are *very* well written, and you should buy those instead.
EDIT: Bizarrely, my Cthulhu Dice: The RPG made it again to the Hotness. The RPG is a drama-based rules light RPG which uses the awesome blingy Cthulhu Dice from Steve Jackson Games.
http://rpggeek.com/rpgitem/80231/cthulhu-dice-the-rpg
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Wouter Dhondt
Belgium
Anzegem
My armor is contempt. My shield is disgust. My sword is hatred. In the Emperor's name, let none survive.
When I now saw this Coppelius, the frightful and terrific thought took possession of my soul, that indeed no one but he could be the Sandman.
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Using the free download rules would work for a one shot, but I'd buy the book if you want to run more games.
Buy the 6th edition. No need to look for a 3rd edition unless if you want it out of nostalgia. Game plays the same, even though some skills have different names.
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There are a couple people here trading the third edition - I'd try that first since it sounds like that's what would make you happiest.
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Rob Handley
Thailand
Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai
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Cheers everyone for your quick responses! - I bow respectfully to your collective knowledge in helping to make a decision! +1 SAN
Rab_C
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Wouter Dhondt
Belgium
Anzegem
My armor is contempt. My shield is disgust. My sword is hatred. In the Emperor's name, let none survive.
When I now saw this Coppelius, the frightful and terrific thought took possession of my soul, that indeed no one but he could be the Sandman.
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Rab_C wrote: Cheers everyone for your quick responses! - I bow respectfully to your collective knowledge in helping to make a decision! +1 SAN
I needed that desperately 
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Why doesn't Chaosium sell hardcover versions of their products? I've always hated the "perfect paperback" style of binding, as it doesn't seem to hold up to actual use.
I saw a couple hardcover versions of CoC 6th ed. on amazon, but for insane prices. Are the hardcover versions only a limited print run because of costs? Chaosium should consider finding a print on demand service for their customers that wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for a hardbound edition (but not exorbinant amazon prices).
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Eric Dodd
New Zealand
Martinborough
Wairarapa
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The 5th and 6th edition books I've had have stood up to repeated use pretty well over the years. The third edition book has stayed in its binding OK but the paper is a slightly lower quality and has got a little ragged on the edges.
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qaesyan wrote: Why doesn't Chaosium sell hardcover versions of their products? I've always hated the "perfect paperback" style of binding, as it doesn't seem to hold up to actual use.
I saw a couple hardcover versions of CoC 6th ed. on amazon, but for insane prices. Are the hardcover versions only a limited print run because of costs? Chaosium should consider finding a print on demand service for their customers that wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for a hardbound edition (but not exorbinant amazon prices).
I don't really mind softcovers, but it always amazes me that Chaosium hasn't changed its production style despite seeing its products become completely irrelevant in countries where things like the Pegasus versions are available.
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Chad Bowser
United States
Kernersville
North Carolina
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qaesyan wrote: Why doesn't Chaosium sell hardcover versions of their products? I've always hated the "perfect paperback" style of binding, as it doesn't seem to hold up to actual use.
I saw a couple hardcover versions of CoC 6th ed. on amazon, but for insane prices. Are the hardcover versions only a limited print run because of costs? Chaosium should consider finding a print on demand service for their customers that wouldn't mind paying a bit extra for a hardbound edition (but not exorbinant amazon prices).
Well, the short answer is that it costs more to print a hardcover book than it does a soft cover book. Once they sell through the initial run of hardcover books, they tend not to reprint them. Chaosium's few forays into POD hardcover books, which they did with Beyond the Mountains of Madness and The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep resulted in books that fell apart.
My perfect bound copy of the 5.1.2 version from 1993 has held up to very regular use for almost 20 years and is still in good shape. It's far from pristine by this point, but all the pages are still tightly bound.
If you want a hardcover with prices similar to what Chaosium charges, check out Troll and Toad.
You can get the 5.6 hardcover version for $20 on Amazon.
You can get the 6th edition hardcover for less than $50 (Chaosium's selling point) on Amazon
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SJ Benoist
United States
Saint Charles
Missouri
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eBay and Amazon prices for OOP RPG's are usually pretty far out of touch with reality.
Be patient and look around, and you'll find a reasonable price.
P.S. Here is the 3rd Ed. Core book for less than 19$ shipped:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Call-of-Cthulhu-Fantasy-Role-Playing...
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Fred Behrendt
United States
Erie
Pennsylvania
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I once studied upon all of the editions of The Call of Cthulhu RPG -- through the fifth edition at least -- and in my opinion, 5th edition (or later) is the way to go.
The third edition is not greatly different from the first -- except that it is an A4-sized hard cover book with spiffy art and color plates.
Fifth edition (and later) benefits greatly from an excellent edit and text polish by Lynn Willis. On those occasions I return to the game I make use of my trusty 5.1.1 hardbound edition. (No idea how hard -- or easy -- those are to come by. . .)
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SJ Benoist
United States
Saint Charles
Missouri
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3rd and 5th have different adventures included as well.
I switch between various editions based upon whichever I happen to grab off the shelf, and I find them all essentially equal in use.
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ketchupgun
Canada
Toronto
Ontario
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Strictly speaking (from a professioanl graphic designer's POV) the 5.5 is easiest to read. The 6th I find a little too busy, and the watermarks in the background a little too heavy for the text to stand out. I also find the typeface chosen for the headers (michaelangelo?) wa-ay to hard to read.
What irks me most is I bought the 30th anniversary leather ed, and there's a slew of typos in it and references to pages that have moved (ie: see page 35 for character creation...but it's now moved to 37) and there's a tabbing issue on the character sheet.
I found a used copy of the 5.5 rules and found that simplly laid out and super easy to read. The binding fell apart, so I took it to the print shop, chopped the spine off in the guillotine and stuck the book in a binder with nice dividers (HOTNESS!) and super easy to flip thru, lay flat, rearrange sections, and toss sections I'll never use (like the stories in the front).
Now mind you, that leather bound copy is pretty cool...it's looks super evil...but if I had to do it again, I'd find a used 5.5 ed and get it leather bound myself.
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If you're not buying the latest edition, I like 4th the best of the old editions. It's got more of a 1920s focus than the later ones.
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Wigner's friend
United States
Metairie
Louisiana
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Ditto on fourth edition, It's my favorite hands down.
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Eric Dodd
New Zealand
Martinborough
Wairarapa
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The Third edition is effectively the second edition, plus the Cthulhu Companion (including the adventures) and the spooky colour plates. But I would still recommend the later editions for clarity and layout.
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