I’ve been running a lot of Call of Cthulhu over the last few years on my Discord server The Other Games. Although I sometimes offer pregens for one-shots, I’ve also offered players plenty of opportunities to roll new characters for themselves. The results have been mixed and this is a short piece with advice on making an effective investigator.
1. Excel at something
Whatever the thing is, find one skill that your character is the go-to person for. Something that, dice gods willing, they can be relied upon to achieve. Put as many points as the rules allow into that skill.
Don’t just spread your points around a lot of skills and have none which can be relied upon. You will sadly all too likely become a non-entity in the game.
As to which skill – honestly, there’s no one correct answer. It is scenario / setting dependent but I would pick something that isn’t so niche that it will only get one use.
But also don’t pick something that other player characters (PCs) will also need to be reasonably good at anyway. You don’t want your superstar to be outshone by a rank amateur and as Keeper there’s nothing worse than having a chain of PCs trying to do the same thing until one of them succeeds.
2. Be socially competent
I get it, we sometimes want to play dark brooding misanthropes who probably shouldn’t have left their mother’s basement. But Call of Cthulhu is a mystery investigation game at its heart. There are clues you as players will want to unlock and most of the time these clues are in the heads of non-player characters (NPCs).
If you can’t interact in a productive way with these NPCs somehow, you will find yourself on the edge of the adventure. Probably frustrated and possibly disruptive.
Pick at least one of the variety of social skills on offer and mould your character to be good at least in that. Maybe they’re a charming lady who secretly hates people. Maybe they’re a smooth talker who is shy inside. A big guy who likes to make persuasive logical arguments whilst otherwise keeping stum.
Whatever awkward archetype you have in mind, make them still good at some kind of social interaction.
3. Unlock some domain of knowledge for the group
Unlike Lovecraft’s fiction, the protagonists of Call of Cthulhu adventures mostly work in teams. Besides all needing to be able to talk to people and offering some area they excel at, you should build a character that brings some knowledge that other PCs don’t have to the mix.
This can be academic (scientific or humanities), it can be languages or it can be practical skills. You don’t need to be world renowned in this but you should aim to at least having a 50/50 chance of bringing its benefits to bear in any particular instance.
The best way to decide what these skills may be is to talk to your group and your Keeper. Any Keeper worth their essential salts will tell you what might be useful in the adventure.
There may be a temptation to cover the same skill with multiple characters. Unless there is some thematic reason you are doing this (e.g. you’re all soldiers trained in a particular way), don’t do this. Yes, it may feel essential to have someone that can pass a skill check in that area the Keeper mentioned. But its usually never the case you will be blocked from progressing if a skill check is failed.
What is more likely to happen is the PCs have concentrated their skills in too few areas and some of that sweet, sweet content and divergent storylines are inaccessible whilst the main story trundles on to its inevitable doom.
Variety is the spice of Cthulhu life.
Finally, build curious, engaging characters
This isn’t a mechanical character creation tip but the most important rule for a fun investigator at the table.
Build a character who is motivated to investigate.
This may seem bloody obvious but I’ve had experienced TTRPGers genuinely question why their character is motivated to follow the interesting lead or explore the spooky place.
What is my motivation? is a question the player should have already answered.
Don’t be that player who needs the Keeper to work hard to bring something from your perception of your character to motivate them to have a bloody adventure. That’s your job. You tacitly agreed to do that when you signed up to play. Hold up your end of the bargain.
On the other hand, don’t play idiots. Yes, this is a horror story we’re telling but being the dumb person who embraces the role of expendable character killed in the title sequence of the movie is unnecessary. That’s what NPCs are for.
My advice is to find a way to want to be there for as long as possible whilst acknowledging the meta-narrative that your characters or their sanity are not long for this world.
Try to be a person that entertains the other players at the table not by your foolishness but by your engagement with the tone and setting on offer.
Hopefully, that was all useful advice and I hope to see some of your character inventions around the table soon!
Leave a Reply