The Call of Gatthulhu

Here is our presentation of the roleplaying game for cat lovers!

How wonderful would it be to be reborn as a happy, well-fed cat in a noble parlour full of cushions and soft beds? How fun would it be to roam the house or the alleys, snooping around and squeezing into cramped boxes stacked in dark corners?

So begins the introduction to this cat-centred roleplaying game.

Welcome to the real world!

The world in which human civilisation exists for the good of cats, in which incredibly ancient and powerful spirits fight for control of reality, in which only brave and skilled felines have the cunning and the means to oppose dark, mystical cabals — and in which the two-legged peoples live in blissful ignorance of it all.

Gatthulhu is the game that fulfils the desire to feel like a cat, living as one in a world ruled by cats and furnished with those irritating, servile two-legs.

Cats cannot talk, read, write, drive cars or browse the internet. To oppose the schemes of evil cabals and brutal enemies, players must be ingenious, use tricks, and find ways to get others to do the dirty work. A cat’s life is improvisation. Even opening a door can be a challenge when you have no opposable thumbs.

When choosing your feline character you can weigh five different roles, which define what the cat does best: Acrobat, Parlour Cat, Fighter, Dreaming Tiger, Bipedologist. Each feline also has a distinctive lifestyle, chosen among Stray, House Cat or Show Cat. The combination of role and lifestyle generates further classifications that help the player define the type of cat, whose looks and quirks must then be described. For instance, a long-haired cat will be more easily appreciated by humans and can enjoy life as a Parlour Cat, or be exhibited as a Show Cat.

The game system

The mechanics are simple. The system uses the six-sided die, here called the d-cat. Faces 1 and 2 show a sad or dead cat (bad news!), faces 3 to 6 show a happy cat (good news!).

Cats have no real character sheets. D-cats are rolled when the feline must overcome challenges, which can be easy, normal or hard. Sometimes success is automatic, if the challenge is faced by the Right Cat for the Right Deed. A cat’s traits, then, can help or hinder it in facing challenges.

•   Easy challenge: roll 2 d-cats (at least 1 success needed)

•   Normal challenge: roll 1 d-cat (at least 1 success needed)

•   Hard challenge: roll 2 d-cats (at least 2 successes needed)

When a player does something particularly clever, unexpected or funny in play, they are rewarded with a Treat. A Treat lets players reroll d-cats or claim some advantage during the game.

Need cuddles?

When a cat uses up all its Treats and hits a crisis, it can recover psychic energy through contact with an obliging human.

There are also other interesting mechanics, such as deadly challenges and the blaze of glory, which give life to epic scenes in situations of extreme danger — at the risk of suffering wounds or spending one of the cat’s “lives”.

Oh yes: the cat-keeper can decide to preserve the cat’s life by introducing the “7 lives” rule at will. This in-game superstition can prove very useful if many scuffles with big, nasty beasts are expected.

Cat language and practical considerations

Cats communicate through sounds, glances, expressions, posture, tail movements, the set of their ears, fur and whiskers. Players should mimic guttural sounds to express plenty of emotions without words.

A cat can carry one thing at a time, holding it in its mouth or dragging it with its teeth if it is heavy. So when a cat picks something up, the player should put an object in their mouth — a pencil, say — and keep holding it even while talking, until their cat releases the object.

Cats rely on their feline senses to find their way in the world, but one type of cat — the Dreaming Tiger — is sensitive to cosmic vibrations, and ventures into the World of Spirits, the Dream, where it can attempt contact with other minds.

Notes on the game world

The heroic task of the cat characters is to uphold the Great Idea and protect civilisation from the many forces trying to destroy it. The Great Idea is an undertaking — the commitment made 10,000 years ago by which Felix Cattus encourages, to the point of insistence, Homo sapiens to do everything possible to make the world a more comfortable place.

Keep that well in mind, two-legs, and pour me my kibble at once!

But not all cats follow the teachings of Phtar-Axlan: many follow the mad sect of Haspurr, or even worship the terrible Great Gatthulhu or the sinister Sheb-Nappurath. Dogs, Mice, Fish, Insects and many other animals also have their plans and their deities, many hostile to the feline race.

Just stay alert, whiskers taut, to sense the danger!

If you enjoyed this introduction to the game, keep reading to discover more. The Call of Gatthulhu is written by Joel Sparks and published by Alephtar Games.

We recommend the expansion The Worlds of Gatthulhu, which contains several adventures:

- Claws of Bone and Steel: felines fight alongside viking heroes to prevent the coming of the Gattarok.

- Star Scuffles: a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, daring pilots and mystic star-cat-knights faced the threat of sinister mechanical beings.

- The Great Gattsby: in 1920s America, cats dodge dancing feet as the Jazz Age moves at a frantic pace. What dark past hides behind that festive facade?

- The Swords of Gatthulhu: in a medieval fantasy world, valiant magical cats sneak into classic adventuring parties hunting for treasure in the dungeons.

- Gatos de los Muertos: along the wild frontier of 1880s Mexico, something lurks in the alleys of the pueblos and the arid desert. Something that must be stopped.

- Great Felines: the most disparate species of wild cats must unite to resist the deadliest of animals: man.

- Lampposts and Pulleys: under the sooty sky of the industrial revolution, curious and determined kitties try to unmask a supernatural conspiracy.

- The DaMici Code: ancient Orders carry on their centuries-old conspiracies, wielding cabalistic powers known only to initiates on two and four legs.

- The Cats of Furland: in the richly detailed world of Furland, noble cats compete for power and prestige at the Luminous Court of Queen Gattania.