Call of Cthulhu vs City of Mist
Compare Call of Cthulhu and City of Mist side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | City of Mist | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Modern |
| Play Style | Investigation, Deadly, One-Shot Friendly, Atmospheric, Roleplay-Heavy, Mystery, Horror, Corruption, Skill-Based | Narrative, Investigation, Mystery, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Noir, Urban Fantasy, Drama, Tag-Based |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or under your skill percentage. Success tiers at half (Hard) and one-fifth (Extreme) of the skill value. Bonus and penalty dice adjust the tens digit. Failed rolls can be pushed for a second attempt at greater risk. | Roll 2d6 + invoked tags. Characters have no numerical stats: instead they invoke narrative tags from their Mythos (legendary) and Logos (mundane) themes. 7–9 partial success, 10+ full success. Statuses replace HP on a 1–6 tier track. |
| Dice | d100 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | Community content (Cauldron of Mist) |
| Cost | $$ | $$$ |
| Publisher | Chaosium | Son of Oak Game Studio |
| Year | 2014 | 2019 |
| Best For | Investigation-driven horror where combat is deadly and sanity is fragile. Great for one-shots. | Groups who want noir-style investigations in a modern city where characters channel mythological archetypes: balancing mundane lives with legendary powers. |
| Highlights | Tracking Sanity as a depletable score ties mental erosion to the fiction, so confronting cosmic horror mechanically wears characters down. The percentile skills resolve on a d100 roll-under, with Hard and Extreme bands at half and one-fifth of the rating. Bouts of Madness convert failed Sanity checks into temporary phobias, manias, or loss of character control. | Tag system makes every character unique, investigation mechanics are well-designed, layered interplay between mythic and mundane identity |
| Considerations | The chase rules add a detailed positioning subsystem whose complexity outweighs how often it sees use. Character creation allocates points across a long list of skills, a slow first step for new players. In long campaigns the sanity spiral can strip a character of player control as madness accumulates. | Tag-based resolution takes adjustment from traditional RPGs, heavily tied to its urban noir setting, two-book format can feel expensive, prep-intensive for the MC |