Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition occupation
Professor
Professor is an occupation in Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition: University academic with a specialty, a department, and the institutional access that comes with both.
Last reviewed
Key facts
- Skills
- Library Use, Language, Psychology, Science, Persuade, Credit Rating
- Credit Rating
- 20-70
Overview
The Professor is the classic Call of Cthulhu investigator: Library Use at base 20 percent, a named Science, an extra Language, Psychology at 10 percent, and Persuade at 10 percent, funded by a Credit Rating of 20 to 70. Every skill on the list serves finding, reading, and explaining. What separates the Professor from other researchers is the institution behind them. A department supplies a library with restricted holdings, colleagues in other fields to consult, students who will do the legwork, and a letter of introduction that opens other universities and museums. It is also why Professors are so often the reason a party has a scenario at all: somebody mailed them the manuscript.
How it works
Occupation Skills: Library Use, Language, Psychology, Science, Persuade, Credit Rating Credit Rating: 20-70% Skill Points: EDU × 4 (spent only on the occupation skills listed above) Typical Equipment: Faculty office and library privileges including restricted collections, correspondence with specialists abroad, students and assistants, conference invitations, a title that gets letters answered
Tips and playstyle
Best For: Parties that need a researcher and a spokesperson in one seat, campaigns that open with a colleague's disappearance, players who want institutional reach. Playstyle: Name your Science and your extra Language for the campaign, since both start at 1 percent and both decide what you can read. Library Use at base 20 percent is the highest-value buy. Occult, History, Anthropology, and Archaeology are all absent from your list, so if you want the full scholar package, spend Personal Interest points (INT × 2) there rather than doubling down on what you already have. Character Concepts: Archaeology professor with a suspect dig, linguist working an untranslated inscription, anthropologist just back from fieldwork, geologist consulted about an impossible sample, emeritus scholar with more freedom than duties.
Frequently asked questions
What is my department worth in play?
Concretely: access to restricted stacks, a specialist in almost any field one corridor away, and credibility with officials and other institutions. It is the reason a Professor can write to a museum in another country and be taken seriously by return post.
Which Science should I name?
Whichever one the campaign will use. Archaeology and Anthropology are separate skills in this system and are not on the Professor list, so if you want to be an archaeologist in fiction, buy Archaeology with Personal Interest points (INT × 2) and name Science for a supporting field.
How does a Professor survive a scenario?
Not by fighting, because the list has no combat skill at all. Put Personal Interest points into Dodge, which starts at half your DEX. Your real survival tool is identifying the threat early enough that the party never has to fight it.