I play tested Call of Cthulhu (CoC) 7th Edition in Jan 2013, I bought into the KickStarter in June 2013, got uncorrected PDFs in 2015 (?), and got the printed books May 2016. So, it's been a long journey.
I started running Horror on the Orient Express (HotOE) 7th Edition on July 2015. CoC 7th Core books were shipped after HotOE shipped. After running through most of HotOE, it's pretty clear that HotOE wasn't completely converted to 7th Ed. There's some obvious leftover stats and rules from 6th Ed embedded in the new printing of HotOE.
I started running HotOE using the
CoC Quick-Start rules and the play test rules I learned in 2013. Unfortunately, a number of rules changed from the play test to the final version. It was only after getting the uncorrected PDFs and reading them carefully that I got a good feel for the official 7th Ed changes. Also getting the printed copies somehow enabled me to do a better reading of the rules. It's easier to peruse a printed copy vs a PDF search for key words.
After running CoC 7th for 15 months, I think I have a good grasp of what I like about 7th Ed.
Pushing Rolls. This raises the tension level every time a player fails an investigation roll. Do they spend luck (if within a few points) or do they push the roll? The discussion of what the failed push roll is between the GM and all players is pure genius. This has added to the games so much, I can't even explain how great this concept was. It's one of those you have to be there type of moments.
This also introduces a mechanic that prevents players from double dipping. How many times has characters decided to first Persuade, then Intimidate, or have multiple characters try a Persuade with no negative consequences? Or multiple characters try Locksmith? This fixes the problem by introducing a set mechanic.
Spending Luck (optional rule). In various games, GMs have been adding Clue Chips and other bennies to help characters succeed. This formalizes it and works really well. It allows the character to either find useful clues or survive combat with the tradeoff of lowering the party's group luck. I call for group luck rolls when a player asks for something I haven't prepared for or when they need to make an appointment with an NPC. The players generally spend more than the 1d10 Luck they can regain, so their Luck does decline steadily in the long run.
Half and Fifth Values. We used to house rule impales (1/5 values) for non-combat rolls and give characters extra information when a character impales. So, adding a Hard Success for rolling equal or below half your skill is a no brainer change. Rolling equal or below 1/5 is an Extreme Success.
Comparing Levels of Success. With the half and fifth values, comparing levels of success is easy and removes the need for the Resistance Table (pre-7th). I never needed to use the Resistance Table because it was a simple math formula (50% +/- 5% for each point of difference in stat). But apparently people had issues with it. Comparing levels is mostly used in combat, in non-combat situations, depending on the opponent's skill, you either need a regular success (where the opponent's skill is less than 50%), hard (50% or above), or extreme (90% or above) to succeed. For instance, an opponent's Spot Hidden is 50%, so you'll need a Hard success with a Stealth roll. (Keeper Rulebook, p.83).
Fighting Maneuvers. It works fairly well and characters do like to use them against creatures and cultists or possessed PCs. I've had characters try to body check a Deep One, restrain someone, knock someone out, etc.
Fighting (Brawl). It was annoying that there was a punch, kick, and head butt. Now all unarmed combat is combined into one skill.
Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate, Persuade, Psychology. I like the new breakdown of interpersonal skills and also that instead of always using Psychology to see through one of the techniques, you can use either the same skill or Psychology to see through the technique. You can't bullshit a bullshitter. In some systems, you use the same skill to spot the use of a skill. e.g. You can use Mechanical Repair to break something and Mechanical Repair to fix something. Stealth to sneak around and Stealth to spot someone sneaking around. Maybe Listen and Spot Hidden can be collapsed into a Notice skill instead just like Psychology collapses Charm, Fast Talk, Intimidate, and Persuade into one counter skill. Then you can counter Stealth with either Stealth or Notice, whichever skill is higher.
Major Wound, Unconsciousness, and Death. I always hated the old rules for when you're at 2 hit points, you're unconscious and when you are at 0, you're dead. This ran so counter to all the other RPGs out there. Now you go unconscious at 0 and Dying if you have a Major Wound. This actually has the effect of making it harder for characters to die. As long as the party survives, there's a chance that any character with a Major Wound could survive (First Aid and CON rolls required) and those without a Major Wound would just need to be revived (regain at least 1 HP via First Aid). In pre-7th Ed, when you go to 0, you're dead.
First Aid. In pre-7th, players had to keep track of the number of wounds and each wound could be First-Aided and healed 1d3. In 7th Ed, you only get 1 hit point back per combat scene no matter how many wounds you took. Easier, less record keeping, but a bit more deadlier and less pulpy. Also only two people can try First Aid on the same patient. No more rolling until you succeed by every character.
Reading Books. Initial Reading/Full Reading/Mythos Rating. Nice changes for skimming the book vs studying it intensely and using the book as a reference when looking up a question.
Streamlined Combat. Fighting Back or Dodging. This speeds up combat, but isn't a big game changer. I mainly saw speed ups in Dark Ages and Invictus settings. Not much of a change for games with guns such as 1920's and onward. The bonus and penalty die is very close to adding an additional 25% to success for the first bonus die and an additional 12.5% to success for the second bonus die. In most games, GMs would give a 20% bonus for similar situations, so not much of a change. The main change is replacing the double damage at point blank (pre-7th) with a bonus die when using a firearm.
Random Tables for Inspiration (Significant People, Meaningful Locations, Treasured Possessions). At first, I thought this was fluff and for color only, but after generating a few characters myself, I discovered that I really liked this added depth to the characters. In addition, I found out that this could be used like Trail of Cthulhu's Sources of Stability or Delta Green's Bonds. During play, these significant people or things can be affected by the Mythos or during periods of madness. So, they can be great story hooks.
Sanity Recovery Rules. I like the Self-help rules (p.167 Keeper Rulebook) where you can spend time with one of the above Significant People, Meaningful Location, or Treasured Possession as psychological support. This is akin to Delta Green's Bonds. This adds a little bit of role-playing between scenarios.
Chase Rules. I've used them once or twice and haven't quite got a handle on them yet. There are similar rules in
TimeWatch. Here's a great
video by Seth Skorkowsky on the chase rules. Basics on
chase rules by Paul Fricker.
Full Color. The illustrations and full color interiors are gorgeous.
Hard Cover Books. Hard cover books last longer and protect the pages. It was announced that all future books from Chaosium will be hard cover and have full color interiors. Nice.
Overall, I love the new edition. The two key changes I think improves the game greatly are Pushing Rolls and Spending Luck. Fighting Maneuvers and Initial Reading of Books are nice additions and useful. The Chase Rules seem nice, but I haven't been able to use it yet, so the jury is still out. The other changes are minor improvements that improve the game, but not in any major way.
CoC GM Tips:
Tricks of the Trade for Beginner GMs
