• What is the CoCGMS?

    What is the CoCGMS?

    The CoCGMS or Call of Cthulhu Game Management System is an app developed on the FileMaker platform.  Thousands of businesses and developers create amazing systems using FileMaker.

    The CoCGMS is a game management system intended to give Call of Cthulhu gamers a complete set of tools needed to create both characters and scenarios as well as provide a wide range of other features like catalog tracking, combat utilities, table creation, dice rolling abilities, and much more.

    Scroll through the showcase here to see some of the system features.

     

     

  • Character Creation

    Character Creation

    The CoCGMS features a great character generation system allowing you to create templates from which you can quickly roll out dozens of randomized NPCs, Monsters or Player character records; each one having a unique blend of stats, skills weapons and equipment you set the ranges for.  The system is highly customizable to give you the ability make nearly any option just what you want.

    Each character record can have any number of character images assigned to it and built in dice rolling tools let you use a character record interactively to speed up the pace of running a CoC game.

  • Scenario Creation

    Scenario Creation

    Many gaming applications focus only on character creation and dice rolling utilities.  But, there's more to a game than just characters and rolling dice.  There has to be something for the characters to actually do!

    The CoCGMS has a powerful scenario development side which will help you create the other half of a role playing game.  You can store any number of scenarios in the system and have all of your content in one place, ready to reference instantly.

    Write your scenarios just like you would a book with chapters breaks to separate things into chunks.

  • Scenario Tools

    Scenario Tools

    Scenarios can be packed with a huge amount of data such as the actual narrative content of each part, images, character links, dialog, combat groups for rapid fighting resolution and even sound boards.

    Load your scenarios up with sound bytes to play for your players to spice up the flavor of a game or even pre-record dialog spoken by an NPC they might encounter at some point to make sure you get the tone just right.

  • Scenario Parts

    Scenario Parts

    In the CoCGMS, scenarios are built by creating parts of the whole.  This allows the keeper to compartmentalize his or her content into easily found and referenced chunks of information.  Major parts of the scenario are broken down into chapters and within those chapters are parts like events, group references, historical information, etc.  These part types are customizable by the keeper to be just what he or she needs them to be.

    Order your parts in the logical order you need and move sections easily if necessary.  Attach images, notes, dialog, printable items and more to each part.

  • Catalogs Galore

    Catalogs Galore

    Use the CoCGMS to store customized catalogs of anything you may need to reference or assign to characters.  Each package in the system can be loaded with catalogs of melee items, range items, spells, skills, print templates and much more.  Organize things by era or any other logic you see fit to use.

    Nearly all entries can store an image helping you flesh out the feel of all items.  Attach catalogs to packages, scenarios and/or directly to characters themselves to provide a base selection of available items.

  • Table Concatenation

    Table Concatenation

    Give your brain a break!  Let the CoCGMS create unique things for your game but concatenating up to 7 tables of things into truly interesting outcomes.  Leverage features that let you build just the right thing generator.  Build interesting names out of syllable strings, generate new insanities, describe people your PCs meet on the street at the click of a button, and more.

    It's amazing what you can come up with by letting the system string together a few random possibilities.

  • The Players Window

    The Players Window

    The CoCGMS is both a behind the scenes development tool set AND an interactive gaming utility designed to be used as you game.  One of the best interactive features is the Players Window which displays things for the players to see as you game like images, dice roll results, table selections, GM jotted text and more.

    Using a third party utility like "Actual Multiple Monitors" you can mirror the contents of the Players Window to a dedicated monitor facing your players.  Turn off the mirroring of content when you need to or clear the Players Window at will to keep the players from seeing too much!

  • Print It!

    Print It!

    Print characters the way you need to.  Print full character sheets for the players, 3x5 quick reference cards for NPCs, tack sheets of just names and occupations to give to players as help sheets for knowing each other or NPCs, tent cards to stand up in front of players, and more.

    Print out your scenarios to have a paper copy handy or print Print Items attached to scenario parts such as journal entries, found telegrams, doctor's prescription orders, etc.  Install a free PDF print driver like PrimoPDF and send everything to PDFs to keep on your computer outside of the system.

  • Many More Features

    Many More Features

    The system is packed with many more features than covered here in the showcase.  Download a copy and give it a try!  The CoCGMS is completely free.  No nag-ware, no ads, no in-app purchases, no donation requests, no charges at all.  Just free to have fun with.

  • Multiplatform

    Multiplatform

    The CoCGMS can be installed on Windows, Mac and iOS (iPad) platforms.  For Windows and Mac versions of the app, just download the correct zip file to your system, unzip and run.  No installation needed.  Just run CoCGMSv2.exe (Win) or the CoCGMSv2 app (Mac) and you're off and running.  Make additional folders to hold multiple copies of the app if you'd like.

    For iPads, download FileMaker Go from the app store (free) and then download the raw database file from MPConnection.com and transfer to FileMaker Go on your iPad using iTunes and run the database from within the FM Go app.

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About the CoCGMS

The CoCGMS is a game management application designed to help gamers create content (scenarios, characters, catalog items, etc.) within the Call of Cthulhu gaming system created by Chaosium, Inc.  I created the application initially just for my own use.  I wasn't happy with apps like Hero Lab, Byakhee, The Keep, etc.  They all seemed to focus exclusively on just character creation.  While that's certainly a needed aspect of any RPG game, it isn't the only thing a game master needs to build.  I was looking for anything to use to help me build gaming scenarios and came up empty.  So, I decided to create the CoCGMS.  The first release of the software for others to use was a little clunky and the look and feel of it wasn't the most polished.  I put a good deal of effort into the 2nd version of the software to improve the look and add in more features that most game masters need. 

The current version is packed with a slew of things that a CoC keeper needs:

  •  A Complete Scenario editing component:  This lets you build your scenarios in parts and assemble them in the order you need them in.  Parts can have occurrence timestamps added to them to relieve you of having to build your game in chronological order if you chose to arrange your content in another way.  You can tag each part with the time it should happen and then let the system display events in the correct order.  You can attach characters in the system to multiple scenarios, add easily referenced dialog on parts, create a soundboard of audio attachments to play for your players, attach images to parts, and much more.  
  • A Complete Character building component:  You can create character templates and deploy multiple characters rapidly and with full randomization of their stats, possessions, weapons, spells, etc.  Create groups to manage your characters more efficiently.  Track HP, SAN and MP loss and gain, track character contacts, make timestamped notes and even let the system make skill and combat rolls for you as the keeper.
  • Manage Catalog data:  Keep track of all your custom items such as skills, weapons, spells, general items, rules, images, etc in catalogs organized any way you need.  Create multiple catalogs for your chosen topics (by gaming era, or perhap some other organization method) and attach catalogs to characters for clear inventory control.
  • Tables Galore:  Add tables to any catalog and use them in the table concatenation feature to join the output of up to 7 tables at once to create random strings for things like complete names with titles, new Mythos tomes, treasure, types of people a player meets on the street, or anything you can think of.
  • Multimedia Storage: Nearly everything in the system can have one or more images attached to it; characters, catalog items, scenario parts, rules, etc.  Dialog attached to scenario parts can even be pre-recorded and played from the system during a game!
  • Multiple Package Support: Working on more than 1 game idea at a time?  Create multiple packages in the system to seperate your ideas and keep things clean.  Each package in the system can have its own set of characters, character groups, catalogs, scenarios and more.
  • Output to PDF or Print: Output your content to PDF (using any free third party PDF print driver) or directly to a printer if you like the old fashion feel of paper in your hands.  Scenarios and characters can be output so you can have your content ready to give to players when the game starts.
  • Share Your Content: Upload your database file somewhere and let others enjoy it and run it.  You can import from one copy of the CoCGMS to another and share information.  Lock your system with a password if you don't want others modifying your hard work.
  • Present to the players: The Players Window can be used to present things to the player from the system.  Show them images, dice rolls, table selections, GM posted text, and more.  Using a 3rd party utility like "Actual Multiple Monitors" you can mirror the Players Window to the players on a dedicated monitor facing them and liven up your game with nearly anything the CoCGMS can generate.
  • Sound Boards: Scenarios can have sound boards created of audio clips you can play for the players when the time is right.  Link sound clips to scenario parts to have them at hand when you need them.
  • Many Game Utilities: Name generators, dice rollers, resistance roll calculator, combat assistant, multi-character skill check and more are all built into the system.

The CoCGMS is completely free of charge.  No nagware, no pop-up ware, no in-app purchases.  Just a free gaming utility for others to get some use out of.  I hope that others can find it useful and use it to build some great games.  Download a copy for Windows, Mac or iPad in the File System if you're interested in giving it a look.

Thanks!

David Wolfe