Call of Cthulhu vs Escape from Dino Island
Compare Call of Cthulhu and Escape from Dino Island side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | Escape from Dino Island | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Modern, Scifi |
| Tags | Investigation, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Mystery, Deadly, Corruption, Skill-Based, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Character-Driven, Narrative | One-Shot Friendly, Survival, Mystery, Playbook-Driven, Rules-Light, Fiction-First, Low-Prep, Strong GM Support, Cinematic, Exploration |
| 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. | Most moves call for a roll of 2d6 plus the stat or modifier the move names, usually FIT, CLEVER, or STEADY. A 10+ is a full success, a 7–9 succeeds with a drawback or hard choice, and a 6 or less is a miss that hands the Dino Master a move. When several Heroes act together, one rolls for the group: the one worst placed during Peril Moves, or the one best placed during Safety Moves. |
| Dice | d100 | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | High | Medium |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | Proprietary |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Community content program | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | $ |
| Publisher | Chaosium | Sam Tung & Sam Roberts |
| Year | 2014 | 2019 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Chinese | English, French, German |
| 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 a one- or two-session survival thriller in the vein of Jurassic Park, where escaping and solving the island's mystery matter more than fighting. |
| 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. | Overcoming the first of two Obstacles triggers an Extinction Event that adds new Dino Master moves and gives every Hero their one advance. Peril and Safety Moves let a single Hero roll for the whole group, so the worst-placed Hero rolls in danger and the best-placed Hero rolls in quiet moments. Several moves require telling a story from the playbook's list, and each story told adds +1 to the closing roll that decides that Hero's epilogue. |
| 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. | Fight! rolls with no stat bonus and a miss triggers the Casualty move, so combat is rarely a workable answer to a dinosaur. The fixed arc ends with the escape attempt, and each Hero gains only one advance along the way. Injuries carry no fixed penalties, so how much a wound hampers a Hero rests on the Dino Master's judgment. |