Trail of Cthulhu ruleset

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Originally Posted by seycyrus

I grabbed CoC as part of the FGU kickstarter, but haven't had a chance to look at it all that much. How does ToC differ from CoC?

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I run and play both.
The theme/setting/genre is very similar for both but Trail probably leans a little more towards the Pulp and of the spectrum but both ToC and CoC have specific Pulp variant rules that make the players tougher and more heroic...

Call of Cthulhu is the original and the big daddy in its genre.

I probably shouldnt say this but I tend towards liking ToC more due to the way the rules specifically assist investigation whereas the CoC rules can be a little arbitrary. A good keeper will ensure you have multiple opportunities to find the essential clues while in ToC you will always get given the absolute essential clues.

CoC on FG is definitely a much more robust and polished product than ToC is.
If you do give ToC a run also have a look at the MoreCore+Extension I linked above.
Ive also played+run ToC using this ruleset but I think a few errors have crept in as CoreRPG has evolved.

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Originally Posted by seycyrus

I grabbed CoC as part of the FGU kickstarter, but haven't had a chance to look at it all that much. How does ToC differ from CoC?

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Differences:

1. 1930s era instead of 1920s for base setting;
2. a get-the-rules-out-of-the-way philosophy, alluded to by damned and described here: “Trail of Cthulhu is an award-winning 1930s horror roleplaying game by Kenneth Hite, produced under license from Chaosium. Whether you’re playing in two-fisted Pulp mode or sanity-shredding Purist mode, its GUMSHOE system enables taut, thrilling investigative adventures where the challenge is in interpreting clues, not finding them.“
3. scenario design that allows multiple paths through the adventure and and emulates investigations/mysteries (but maybe this isn’t a difference in all cases).

Similarities:

1. Subject matter and tone are identical or nearly so
2. Call and Trail material can be converted from one system to the other.

It should also be noted that there are different builds of the core GUMSHOE rule system: it gets tweaked and optimized for each setting published. Cthulu Confidential’s one-2-one rules introduced the most innovation, and the game author has hinted he’d simplify GUMSHOE further by incorporating most of these changes if he built a new edition from the ground up.

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Originally Posted by damned

I probably shouldnt say this but I tend towards liking ToC more due to the way the rules specifically assist investigation whereas the CoC rules can be a little arbitrary. A good keeper will ensure you have multiple opportunities to find the essential clues while in ToC you will always get given the absolute essential clues.

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I have heard this same assessment from players and a GM talking at a live con: once you switch to Trail (really the streamlined playstyle built into the GUMSHOE rules) the advantages show themselves strongly and it’s hard to go back. (I would just convert Call material to Trail rules.)

For all interested, also see this thread to a MoreCore version of Trail of Cthulu, currently supported: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forum...t=trail+cthulu

Any data modules existing ?

No - all content is copyright.

Ok, thanks !