Call of Cthulhu vs DIE
Compare Call of Cthulhu and DIE side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | DIE | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Fantasy, Horror |
| Tags | Investigation, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Mystery, Deadly, Corruption, Skill-Based, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Character-Driven, Narrative | Dark Fantasy, Playbook-Driven, Character-Driven, Narrative, Drama, Roleplay-Heavy, Fiction-First, Atmospheric, Worldbuilding, Collaborative |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or below a skill or characteristic. Hard and Extreme tests use half and one-fifth of that rating. Bonus and penalty dice select a better or worse tens digit. Eligible failed skill rolls can be pushed by taking further action, risking a harsher consequence. | Build a dice pool of d6s equal to the stat most relevant to the task (0–4), adding dice for advantages and removing dice for disadvantages. Each 4+ is a success; the GM's difficulty subtracts from that total. Each 6+ can also activate a Special ability tied to the roll. Each of the six Paragon classes is identified with a different polyhedral die (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, or d20) that can be added to the pool to power that class's signature abilities. |
| Dice | d100 | d6 dice pool + d4–d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Community content program | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Chaosium | Rowan, Rook & Decard |
| Year | 2014 | 2022 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Chinese | English |
| Best For | Groups who want clue-driven horror with ordinary investigators and lasting consequences. Suits focused mysteries and campaigns where survival matters more than defeating every threat. | Groups who want an emotionally heavy, character-focused portal fantasy: real-world friends enter a fantasy world that mirrors their buried issues and must decide whether they can ever agree to go home. |
| Highlights | Pushing a failed roll offers another chance at the goal with a more serious consequence if it fails. Learning Mythos lore reduces maximum Sanity, tying useful knowledge to lasting vulnerability. An Idea roll gets a stalled investigation moving again, with failure putting investigators into danger. | Six Paragon classes each tied to a specific polyhedral die with its own subsystem: Dictator breaks hearts with words, Fool gains luck from acting carefree, Emotion Knight weaponizes a chosen feeling, Neo powers techno-magic with daily-refreshing Fair Gold, Godbinder bargains with gods for miracles, Master rewrites reality as a rule-bender. Real-world Flashback lets each player recall a memory once per session for advantage on any task. Session-zero procedures build the Personas and the fantasy world around their buried issues. Designed around 2–3 session games with extended campaign rules provided. |
| Considerations | A major wound can leave an investigator dying, making direct confrontation dangerous. Bouts of madness temporarily place investigator actions under Keeper control. Foot and vehicle chases track relative speed and movement actions, adding a separate procedure to pursuit scenes. | Premise requires players willing to roleplay vulnerable real-world versions of themselves before any fantasy play begins. Bleed themes (the fiction leaking into real relationships) push emotional intensity that many groups will need explicit safety buy-in for. Each Paragon has a distinct subsystem the class's player must learn individually. The fantasy world is built collaboratively in session zero around the player Personas rather than drawn from a fixed setting, placing significant improvisational load on the GM. |