Call of Cthulhu vs Kids on Bikes
Compare Call of Cthulhu and Kids on Bikes side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | Kids on Bikes | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Horror, Modern |
| Tags | Investigation, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Mystery, Deadly, Corruption, Skill-Based, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Character-Driven, Narrative | Mystery, Worldbuilding, Collaborative, Narrative, Character-Driven, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Superpowers, Rules-Light, One-Shot Friendly, Beginner-Friendly |
| 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. | Assign a different die from d4 to d20 to each stat. Roll the relevant die against a GM-set difficulty. A maximum result lets you reroll and add the new result only while the unmodified total remains below the difficulty. Resolve these explosions before adding bonuses or spending Adversity Tokens to meet or beat the difficulty. Failed checks earn Adversity Tokens that can boost later rolls or activate strengths. Planned actions can use half the die’s maximum instead of rolling. |
| Dice | d100 | d4–d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Availability | Free quickstart | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 5 of 5 book tools | 4 of 5 book tools |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Community content program | No verified route found |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | Chaosium | Hunters Entertainment / Renegade Game Studios |
| Year | 2014 | 2018 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Chinese | English, Italian, Spanish |
| 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 to build a small-town mystery together and share control of its supernatural companion alongside their own everyday characters. |
| 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. | Shared town-building and relationship questions give the GM player-created hooks for the mystery. Each player controls aspects of a shared supernatural character, distributing its choices across the table. Failed rolls earn tokens that can turn later setbacks into successes. |
| 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. | Combat can kill a character outright when the attack roll greatly exceeds the defense roll. Players must help narrate outcomes beyond their own characters under the default shared-control approach. Character growth is negotiated from events in play rather than governed by levels or an experience-point track. |