Call of Cthulhu vs Honey Heist
Compare Call of Cthulhu and Honey Heist side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | Honey Heist | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Modern |
| Tags | Investigation, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Mystery, Deadly, Corruption, Skill-Based, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Character-Driven, Narrative | Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Comedy, Heist, Random Character Creation, Random Tables, Low-Prep, Gonzo, Fast-Paced, Theater of the Mind |
| 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. | When a bear acts and the outcome is in doubt, the player rolls 1d6 against the relevant stat, Bear or Criminal: a roll equal to or under the stat succeeds, and a roll over it fails. Using the bear type's skill or doing something covered by the character's role rolls 2d6 and keeps the lowest. When the lowest die rolled is a 6, the GM introduces a twist or unseen complication. |
| Dice | d100 | d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Very Low |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Medium |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | RR&D Community Licence v1.14 |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Community content program | Commercial publishing allowed — RR&D Community Licence (Grant Howitt's One Page RPGs) |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Chaosium | Rowan, Rook and Decard (Grant Howitt) |
| Year | 2014 | 2017 |
| 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 a silly, low-prep one-shot as a crew of bears pulling a heist at a honey convention. |
| 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. | Greed moves a point from Bear to Criminal when the plan goes off without a hitch, and Frustration moves one back when the plan fails and the bear runs into difficulty. A player can shift a point toward Criminal by playing a flashback scene of the bears planning the heist, or toward Bear by eating a load of honey. The GM sets up each heist from random tables, including two security features and a complication kept secret from the players. |
| 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. | There are no experience, advancement or campaign rules. Bear covers shrugging off damage, but the rules track no damage or injury. The sheet gives no rule for what a player does after their bear betrays the party or flips out at 6. |