Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition characteristic
Power (POW)
Power (POW) is a characteristic in Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition: Willpower and magical potential, setting your starting Sanity and your Magic Point pool.
Last reviewed
Key facts
- Abbreviation
- POW
- Derived Stats
- Magic Points, Sanity
Overview
Power measures how much of the Mythos your investigator can take in before it takes them apart. It is generated on 3d6×5 for a range of 15 to 90, and unlike STR or DEX it almost never decides a physical scene. POW comes up the moment something happens that should not: a body that moves after it stopped, a corridor that does not measure right, a name read aloud from the wrong book. Sanity starts equal to POW, so two investigators with identical skill sheets and POW 40 against POW 75 have very different amounts of road ahead of them before the campaign finishes them off.
How it works
Generation: 3d6×5, range 15 to 90, rolled like the other characteristics. Sanity: Starting Sanity equals POW exactly. Your maximum Sanity is 99 minus your Cthulhu Mythos skill, so every point of Mythos knowledge permanently lowers the ceiling you can heal back to. Magic Points: POW÷5, rounded down, so POW 55 gives 11. Magic Points pay for casting and for pushing back against hostile magic. Difficulty: Hard success is POW÷2, Extreme is POW÷5. Breaking points: Losing 5 or more Sanity from a single roll triggers temporary insanity, and that 5 point trigger is a flat number that does not scale with POW. Losing a fifth or more of your current Sanity within one day triggers indefinite insanity, and that second threshold does scale, so a high POW investigator has more room before it lands.
Tips and playstyle
Best for: Investigators meant to last a long campaign, and anyone who might realistically open a tome and try to cast from it. Character concepts: Occultists, clergy, parapsychologists, and stubborn detectives written as unshakeable rather than clever. Synergies: High POW plus someone in the party with Psychoanalysis is the only reliable Sanity recovery plan most groups get. POW also pairs with Cthulhu Mythos, because a large Sanity pool buys headroom under the 99 minus Mythos ceiling before the knowledge itself becomes the thing that ends you.
Frequently asked questions
Is POW the same as Luck?
No. Luck is rolled separately on 3d6×5 and gets spent and swung around during play. POW is fixed, sets Sanity and Magic Points, and is what you roll in magical contests.
Does losing Sanity reduce my POW?
No. Sanity is its own track that merely starts at POW and then moves on its own. A badly shaken investigator still has a full Magic Point pool, which is exactly how desperate people end up casting.
Can POW go up?
Rarely. Characteristics do not rise from normal skill improvement, though a Keeper may award POW after a significant magical event. Some rituals go the other way and spend POW permanently.