Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition occupation
Drifter
Drifter is an occupation in Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition: Rootless traveler who lives rough, moves often, and knows the country between the towns.
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Key facts
- Skills
- Climb, Jump, Listen, Navigate, Stealth, Survival, Credit Rating
- Credit Rating
- 0-5
Overview
The Drifter has almost no money, with a Credit Rating band of 0 to 5, and in exchange carries the most self-sufficient skill list in the game. Climb and Jump start at 20 percent, Listen and Stealth at 20 percent, and Survival and Navigate at 10 percent, so the Drifter stays competent everywhere the road runs out. Drifters make the rural and wilderness half of Call of Cthulhu work. They reach the farm nobody drives to, sleep outside the town that will not rent them a room, and hear the thing moving in the treeline while everyone else is arguing about the map. Skill points build from EDU plus one of APP, DEX, or STR, so a poorly educated character is still fully viable, which very few occupations allow.
How it works
Occupation Skills: Climb, Jump, Listen, Navigate, Stealth, Survival, Credit Rating Credit Rating: 0-5% Skill Points: EDU × 2 + (APP or DEX or STR) × 2 (spent only on the occupation skills listed above) Typical Equipment: A bedroll and a knife, boots worth more than everything else you own, knowledge of which yards keep dogs, contacts among other travelers, whatever is in your pockets right now
Tips and playstyle
Best For: Rural and travel-heavy scenarios, groups with no outdoor skills at all, players who want a character with nothing left to lose. Playstyle: Survival is named for a terrain type, so choose the one your campaign uses. Buy Listen and Stealth up early, because those are the two rolls that keep a Drifter alive in someone else's territory. Accept that Credit Rating 0 to 5 means you cannot buy anything worth having: the party pays or you go without, and Keepers will ask where you slept last night. Character Concepts: Rail-riding hobo, veteran who never went home, migrant harvest worker, wandering preacher without a parish, someone walking away from a scenario that already happened to them.
Frequently asked questions
How do I play a penniless investigator without being a burden?
Lean on what money cannot buy. You travel on foot, you appear on no register, and nobody notices you leaving. Arrange with the party that a Dilettante or a Doctor of Medicine covers lodging and fares, and repay them in access and legwork.
Which characteristic should the second half of my skill points come from?
DEX if you want Climb, Jump, and Stealth to be reliable, STR for a physically imposing survivor, and APP only if you plan to talk your way in, which is awkward given that Persuade is not on your list.
Is Survival worth the points?
In an urban campaign, no. Anywhere outside a city it is the skill that stops exposure, hunger, and getting lost from killing the party before the Mythos does, and no other occupation on this list carries it at all.