Call of Cthulhu Point Buy Calculator
🔮 Call of Cthulhu Point Buy Calculator
CoC-style investigator attributes, point pool planning, age adjustment, occupation focus, and derived stats.
📜Investigator Presets
⚙Point Pool & Campaign Inputs
Pool
60
Spent
0
Remaining
60
Status
OK
👤Investigator Attributes
This is a house-style point allocator for CoC-like percentile characteristics. Each 5-point increase above the listed base spends 1 pool point.
Investigator Summary
Point Pool
60 / 60
ready to play
Durability
10 HP
10 MP
Skill Points
240
100 personal
Action Profile
MOV 8
DB 0, Build 0
🧭Investigator Spec Grid
EDU
Occupation Driver
240
Occupation Points
50
Starting SAN
25
Base Dodge
📊Point Pool Bands
| Pool | Use Case | Typical Average | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|
| 48 | Lean | Low 50s | Fragile, grounded investigators |
| 54 | Grounded | High 50s | Competent ordinary people |
| 60 | Standard | Low 60s | Balanced table play |
| 66 | Capable | Mid 60s | Focused specialists |
| 72 | Pulp | High 60s | Action-forward campaigns |
📝Characteristic Reference
| Attribute | Base | Max | Common Role |
|---|---|---|---|
| STR | 15 | 90 | Force, melee presence, damage bonus |
| CON | 15 | 90 | Hit points, endurance, survivability |
| SIZ | 40 | 90 | Hit points, build, physical scale |
| DEX | 15 | 90 | Dodge base, action order, agility |
| APP | 15 | 90 | First impressions and social presence |
| INT | 40 | 90 | Idea score and personal interest points |
| POW | 15 | 90 | SAN, magic points, willpower tone |
| EDU | 40 | 90 | Know score and most occupation points |
🧮Derived Stat Formulas
| Derived Stat | Calculator Formula | Rounded As | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hit Points | (CON + SIZ) / 10 | Down | Core durability estimate |
| Magic Points | POW / 5 | Down | Tracks occult stamina |
| Starting SAN | POW | Whole | Shown before scenario changes |
| Dodge Base | DEX / 2 | Down | Useful for DEX-style builds |
| Personal Interest | INT x2 | Whole | Flexible background skills |
| Occupation Skills | Selected formula | Whole | EDU, INT, DEX, APP, or POW driven |
🎭Occupation Focus Table
| Focus | Suggested Driver | Secondary Stat | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professor | EDU | INT | Research-heavy knowledge specialist |
| Detective | INT | DEX | Observation, fieldwork, fast reactions |
| Doctor | EDU | DEX | Medical training with steady hands |
| Journalist | EDU | APP | Contacts, interviews, fast synthesis |
| Occultist | POW | EDU | Willpower plus obscure learning |
| Explorer | DEX | CON | Travel, hazards, physical scenes |
| Criminal | DEX | APP | Stealth, charm, improvisation |
| Artist | APP | POW | Presence, expression, strong inner life |
💡Build Tips
Balance EDU, INT, and DEX
EDU usually drives occupation points, INT adds personal interest points, and DEX affects dodge plus action order. A strong investigator often needs two of the three.
Check derived stats after age
Older investigators can gain education depth while losing speed or physical margin. Recalculate HP, MOV, dodge, and damage bonus before finalizing the sheet.
The point buy system is used to create character for roleplaying games; the point buy system allow players to choose their attributes instead of rolling dice for there attributes. To create a character using the point buy system, players use a currency of points to determine their character’s strengths and weakness. The point buy system allow for players to design there characters instead of creating random characters, thus changing the character creation process.
The point buy system begin with the size of the point pool that players have to work with. The point pool will determine how capable the player is of their character at the beginning of the game. A small point pool will result in a character that is more fragile at the beginning of the game, while a large point pool will create a more powerful character.
How to Make Game Characters with the Point Buy System
If the player choose a large point pool for their character, their character will be more powerful; however, they may find themselves battling more powerful monster in the game. After the player decide on the size of their point pool, they will allocate the points to their primary attributes for their character. Many players will try to make each of their attribute for their character high.
However, they must make compromises with their point allocation because their points is limited. For example, if a player decides to allocate a significant portion of their points to attributes like Education and Intelligence to create a smart character for their game, they will have fewer points to allocate to attributes like Dexterity and Strength. Players must make a decision about which attributes is the most important to their character and allocate their points accordingly.
By doing so, they will create a character with a specific area of expertise within the game. A character’s allocation of points to their attributes will impact their skill points. Players use their skill points to determine how useful their character will be during gameplay.
Each occupation require specific attributes. For example, a doctor will require the player to allocate more points to the Education attribute so that they can utilize their skill in medicine. In contrast, a detective will require the player to allocate more points to the Intelligence attribute to create characters with observation skill.
The attributes that the player decides upon for their character will determine their starting skill pool. A game skill point calculator can assist the player with these calculations. Age is another factor to consider when creating a character with the point buy system.
As the investigator’s age increases, they will gain education and experience; however, they will lose some of their physical prime. An investigator that is more aged may possess high intellectual attribute but lower physical attributes. This can be of benefit to the player when creating a group of characters for the campaign as the younger characters can perform physical task for the group while the more aged investigators will focus on intellectual tasks.
Each character also has derived stats that are created from their attributes. Derived stats are stats that exist for characters but emerge from their attributes. For example, a character’s hit points and magic points are derived stats from their attributes of Constitution, Power, and physical size.
Players must be aware of these stats to ensure they dont create a character that is strong in the intellectual aspects of the game but weak physically. A good character build will ensure that the character is not vulnerable to attacks from the monster that they encounter in the game. Power is one of the most important attribute for players to consider when creating their character.
Although most players may neglect this attribute, their character’s Power will determine their starting Sanity for the game. The higher the Power stat for the player’s character, the more Sanity that their character will start with. If their Power stat is low, they will lose Sanity rapid when encountering horror in the game.
High Intelligence is good for understanding the situation that the player and their character encounter but high Power is better for ensuring that their character remains functional when faced with the horrors that the game present. The point buy system allows the player to define the limits of their character. By knowing the limits of their character, they can participate in roleplaying.
For those who choose to create a specialist character that is not well-round in their skills and attributes, the player accepts that their character will have specific weakness. By creating a character with specific weakness, the player accepts and embraces the feeling of being outmatched by other characters in the game. Finally, the last step is to allocate points for movement bonus and damage bonus for the character.
These stats will create the character’s interaction with the game world. Whether the players are creating a powerful adventurer or a fragile academic for the game, the point buy system will ensure the player’s creation is a cohesive part of the story that is to be told through the game. The point buy system allows players to use the mechanics of the game to tell the story of the game through their character creation process.
