Call of Cthulhu vs Mutants & Masterminds
Compare Call of Cthulhu and Mutants & Masterminds side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | Mutants & Masterminds | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Modern, Superhero |
| Tags | Investigation, Fear & Stress Mechanics, Mystery, Deadly, Corruption, Skill-Based, Atmospheric, One-Shot Friendly, Character-Driven, Narrative | Superpowers, Heroic, Crunchy, Character Building, Tactical, Cinematic |
| 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. | Roll d20 + modifier against a Difficulty Class. Heroes are built from a Power Points budget capped by a series Power Level (usually 10), which limits paired trait totals (attack bonus + effect rank, dodge + toughness) to twice the level. Damage is resisted with Toughness checks that escalate conditions (bruised, staggered, incapacitated) instead of tracking hit points. Hero Points let players reroll, edit scenes, or recover from conditions; complications coming into play earn them back. |
| Dice | d100 | d20 |
| Complexity | Medium | High |
| Accessibility | High | Very High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | OGL |
| Third-Party Publishing | Commercial publishing allowed — Community content program | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Cost | $$ | Free |
| Publisher | Chaosium | Green Ronin Publishing |
| Year | 2014 | 2013 |
| Languages | English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Swedish, Chinese | English, Italian |
| 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 unlimited freedom to design any superhero concept (from masked vigilante to cosmic powerhouse) with a flexible point-buy build system and tactical combat that emphasizes power-level balance. |
| 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. | Modular power-construction system builds any superpower from effects, modifiers, and flaws; Power Level caps enforce balance even when individual traits vary widely; Hero Points reward roleplaying complications with mechanical benefits; conditions track damage progression instead of using a hit point pool |
| 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. | Character creation requires significant rules mastery to navigate the point-buy power construction; resolving an attack involves multiple checks per action: attack roll, Toughness resistance, condition tracking; Power Level caps can frustrate players who want to push paired-trait limits like attack and effect rank |