Call of Cthulhu vs Vaesen
Compare Call of Cthulhu and Vaesen side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Call of Cthulhu | Vaesen | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Horror, Modern | Horror |
| Play Style | Investigation, Deadly, One-Shot Friendly, Atmospheric, Roleplay-Heavy, Mystery, Horror, Corruption, Skill-Based | Investigation, Narrative, Atmospheric, Mystery, Character-Driven, Gritty, Deadly |
| Core Mechanic | Roll d100 equal to or under your skill percentage. Success tiers at half (Hard) and one-fifth (Extreme) of the skill value. Bonus and penalty dice adjust the tens digit. Failed rolls can be pushed for a second attempt at greater risk. | Roll a d6 dice pool (attribute + skill). Each 6 is a success. Push your roll to reroll failures but take a Condition (Exhausted, Wounded, Frightened, Hopeless). Mysteries follow a structured investigation format. Between mysteries, upgrade your shared headquarters. |
| Dice | d100 | d6 dice pool |
| Complexity | Medium | Low |
| Accessibility | High | High |
| Runnability | Very High | Very High |
| License | Chaosium Fan Material Policy | Year Zero Engine OGL |
| Cost | $$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Chaosium | Free League Publishing |
| Year | 2014 | 2025 |
| Best For | Investigation-driven horror where combat is deadly and sanity is fragile. Great for one-shots. | Investigation-focused Nordic horror campaigns where players uncover folklore mysteries, confront tragic mythological creatures, and build up a shared headquarters between cases. |
| Highlights | Tracking Sanity as a depletable score ties mental erosion to the fiction, so confronting cosmic horror mechanically wears characters down. The percentile skills resolve on a d100 roll-under, with Hard and Extreme bands at half and one-fifth of the rating. Bouts of Madness convert failed Sanity checks into temporary phobias, manias, or loss of character control. | Strong atmosphere and thematic design, structured mystery format keeps investigations focused, push mechanic creates tension, headquarters upgrades add campaign investment |
| Considerations | The chase rules add a detailed positioning subsystem whose complexity outweighs how often it sees use. Character creation allocates points across a long list of skills, a slow first step for new players. In long campaigns the sanity spiral can strip a character of player control as madness accumulates. | Investigation success is heavily GM-dependent, narrow 19th century Nordic horror focus, dice system can feel too simple for complex mysteries, information layout can be hard to navigate |