As I mentioned when I looked at the RuneQuest Starter Set, Chaosium really knows how to pack a pretty small box full of cool stuff. Let’s see how it all started, eh? This is the first, the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set (2018) and its revised edition (2021). There is scant difference — the newer edition has some corrections and a different layout for the character sheet. I own them both because I like Lin Hsiang’s cover for the revision marginally more than Josu Hernaiz’s original. And I like buying things I like more than once, OK? It’s a problem.

Anyway. What’s inside? Dice, a solo adventure (Alone Against the Flames, which before this was a standalone product), the basic rules booklet, a booklet with three scenarios, handouts and character sheets (for both pregens and blanks). The scenarios are all classics that in previous editions were included in the core rulebook. “Paper Chase” is a duet game — for one player and a GM — centering on a rather unusual ghoul. “Edge of Darkness” has a group of players dealing with a dead man’s terrible bequest. Finally, “Dead Man Stomp” involves a deal with someone much worse than the devil. All are retooled to teach players to play and GMs to GM, and the last scenario, set in Jazz Age Harlem, provides a chance to address Lovecraft’s crappy views on race.

It’s more than enough to get folks started on the road to mind-bending horror!