Call of Cthulhu (d20 Edition Horror Roleplaying, WotC)

Average customer rating:

Librum Cthulhum Deetwentii

Excellent d20 book

Roleplaying or Combat?

A fine adaptation--I just wish it weren't d20!

A Fine Adaptation

Call of Cthulhu (d20 Edition Horror Roleplaying, WotC)
Monte Cook , and John Tynes
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0786926392
Release Date: 2002-03-01

Book Description

The long-awaited d20 adaptation of Call of Cthulhu in one all inclusive rulebook.

Since the early 1900's, H.P. Lovecraft has been considered one of the top writers in the entire horror genre. Elements of his work have appeared over the years in numerous horror arenas, but now roleplayers can delve into a campaign centered around the author's popular Cthulhu Mythos. The Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game contains everything needed to play or narrate a roleplaying campaign, including all core-game rules for the d20 game system.

Customer Reviews:

Librum Cthulhum Deetwentii.......2005-09-11

I had the Chaosium Cthulhu book for a few years when someone recommended that I get the WotC D20 Cthulhu book for additional ideas. After buying and reading it, I feel that it stands well on its own. So I won't be reviewing it in comparison to Chaosium's BRP book, or recommend which one is better, but just to review it as it stands.

First, the externals. It is a nice book - a solid hardback, with art to look like a grimoire or other tome. I like a sturdy rulesbook that structurally feels in flavor for the game it is made for. The interior art is in color (!) and is mostly very good, with the chapter heading paintings looking particularly realistic. The layout is readable, the paper feels dependable, and the page coloration changes subtly by chapter (for quick flipping). In short, it looks and feels like a book you might like to own (sometimes I feel guilty about owning ugly books).

Next, I'll note that the mechanics are included. That's good, because I don't intend to buy any more d20 products (wait, that's a lie. I have already bought another d20 book to use with this one; I definitely wouldn't have if the d20 rules weren't spelled out). Everything you need to know about generating a character, advancing in levels, acquiring skills, and combat is included (which I didn't necessarily expect when I bought it - I guess it's a true stand-alone). It was difficult to sort through, and not terribly well organized. I assume that the mechanics were squeezed in so that more could be spent on Cthulhu than on d20. I did feel that my old AD&D 2E book was more clear (not saying the mechincs were better, just that I understood the presentation better after reading it). Feats and skill ranks are new to me, so I can't really review that section other than to say that it's there. I personally think that for all the rules, tables, and modifiers, the DM is just going to pick a dice check number that matches the difficulty he/she thinks the situations should have relative to your skill, so why bother with all the crunchiness? But I'm not a big shot like Monte Cook or John Tynes, and this is d20, so I'll take their word for it.

Guns and other equipment is covered in excellent detail - nice to have it all in one place.

Magic - tomes are covered very well, and even BRP Cthulhu people might benefit from reading the section on how sanity loss from reading Mythos books occurs. Specific tomes are covered, along with all the spells from the BRP game.

Creatures - all the major critters have entries. I think the stats are a little silly, and not consistemt with descriptions or at appropriate levels relative to other monsters. Also, given the deadliness of some monsters' descriptions, the challenge ratings seem much too low.

The Mythos - the idea of Lovecraft's vision is explained. Also, each decade is explained in terms of the progression of the End Times, and how each decade might be played along with movie and literature references that are appropriate for inspiration.

How to run a game - this is probably the most useful chapter in any game book I've ever bought. There are 40 pages on how to create backstory, create good horror, keep a game going, and please your players. I wish all gmaes came with this kind of explanation about what are the elements of a good game with lots of examples. Even if you never play d20, this is great for any other horror game.

The two scenarios are well-designed with plenty of investigation that is also accessible to the players. All useful details are included for what may be a first-time GM.

At the back are a Monstrous Compendium of deities for use if you want in a D&D game. I feel like they need to be in the book, and the stats hardly matter anyway. There is also a conversion table for BRP and d20, as well as a bibliography of Cthulhu books to read.

Excellent presentation, excellent material, useful to more than just d20 players but contains everything needed to play d20. An excellent buy for anyone in horror gaming, I think.

Excellent d20 book.......2005-01-22

This d20 Call of Cthulhu is probably not to the liking of purists since it presents, to begin with, a set of different rules. As you know, people don't like to change of game mechanics. So, if you really like the d20 / D&D 3rd rules, this d20 supplement is for you!! In fact it is an excellent product, with nice layout and illustrations, and well written. Just if you wanted to add the Mythos to D&D 3rd ed., this book is worth the purchase. Now, as much the purists want to see a Call of Cthulhu game as one where player characters are expected to die within a couple of sessions, some others don't!! There are also players who like games where the PCs survive and thrive. As such, a combat oriented d20 CoC is not necessarily a bad thing! Anyway, if you really would like to do a "pulp" Cthulhu, you would better add some d20 Modern to it, since d20 CoC nonetheless goes for characters who are weak and nearly hopeless.

Roleplaying or Combat?.......2004-09-03

Very simple. If you want to roleplay, love character (personality) development, truly love the horror of Lovecraft's brilliant world and want a memorable experience, buy Chaosium's original, elegant game.

If you want a combat oriented game with a clumsy, ugly gaming system, go d20.

Your choice.

A fine adaptation--I just wish it weren't d20!.......2004-01-13

First, a word of warning to the shopper--although Amazon doesn't make it clear in the title, this is the d20 version of the Call of Cthulhu RPG.

That out of the way--the greatest thing in this book is John Tynes' articles on how to GM a Call of Cthulhu game, and the background info on the Mythos. They are actually better than what's in the regular (non-d20) Call of Cthulu rulebook. Also, the rules for psychic characters are intriguing, and it's kinda kewl to have all those Mythos monsters and gods statted up for d20, so you can spring them on your unsuspecting Dungeons and Dragons characters.

Those good points are so very very good that I give this product 5 stars, despite one very serious flaw: the rules are lame. Oh, Tynes and Cook do good things with them--many of their ideas were later used in other d20 products, and they certainly make some small improvements with the d20 rules. But it's still d20, and thus far clunkier and less elegant than the original Call of Cthulhu rules. Now, those CoC rules are far from perfect, but still, they are so much easier to learn and to use, and really, the *only* thing you need to buy to play CoC is the rulebook--no, not the "core" rulebook, because there *aren't* any other rulebooks! Oh sure, there are supplements, but unlike D&D, none of them is crucial to play. And unlike D&D, when Chaosium does a new edition, they don't change it so much that it's completely incompatible with previous material. Most of the changes are in gathering together published spells and monsters and equipment, so that (gasp!) you won't *have* to buy other supplements!

So, I didn't actually buy it for the d20 rules--although that will allow me to introduce my local gaming group (some members of which refuse to play anything other than D&D) to CoC. I bought it as a supplement for the regular version of Call of Cthulhu--something entirely unnecessary, but beautiful and fun to have. Looked at that way, it's 5 stars, easy.

A Fine Adaptation.......2003-12-02

Okay, I'll be honest. I do prefer the original Chaosium CoC to Wizards Of The Coast's adaptation. What I supremely loved about the original Call Of Cthulhu was that knowledge that reading that obscure occult tome was NOT a good idea and that nothing at all was what it seemed. Yes, characters either died or went insane, but that's what made it fun. The original Call Of Cthulhu was about the journey rather than the end. The new d20 Call Of Cthulhu takes away from that paranoid feel of the original game, making it a bit more combat-intensive and less mood-oriented.

However, let's be honest here. It's the GM that creates the mood for the game. It's all about imagination, baby. It's easy to create a more mood-oriented d20 CoC campaign - the book even gives pointers. The rulebook is quite adaptable, including tips on incorporating the Mythos creatures, deities, and Sanity rules into a D&D Campaign (I imagine that they can be added to a d20Modern campaign as well).

If you already have Chaosium's core CoC rulebook, there's no need to get this unless you want to incorporate the Mythos into D&D. If you're a D&D3E fan and don't own Chaosium's rulebook and/or have never played Call Of Cthulhu but want to learn it in a familiar framework, you can do far, far worse than WotC's adaptation of a classic game. The d20 adaptation features gorgeous artwork, a recommended reading list, and even adaptations to older CoC supplements.

Product Description

CALL OF CTHULHU is Chaosium's classic roleplaying game of Lovecraftian horror in which ordinary people are confronted by the terrifying and alien forces of the Cthulhu Mythos. CALL OF CTHULHU uses Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying System, easy to learn and quick to play. This bestseller has won dozens of game-industry awards and is a member of the Academy of Adventure Game Design Hall of Fame. In 2001 CALL OF CTHULHU celebrated its 20th anniversary. In 2003 CALL OF CTHULHU was voted the #1 Gothic/Horror RPG of all time by the Gaming Report.com community. CALL OF CTHULHU is well-supported by an ever-growing line of high quality game supplements. This is the softcover 6th edition of this classic horror game, completely compatible with all of previous editions and supplements for CALL OF CTHULHU. This is a complete roleplaying game in one volume. All you need to play is this book, some dice, imagination, and your friends.

Customer Reviews:

RPG.......2007-09-03

Become an investigator, and soon realise that the most important thing in the world is trying to hang on to your sanity. Avoiding being
destroyed by creeping monsters and crazed cultists, is good, too, but a quick axe murder might be preferable in some cases to a life and existence of crazed, terrified insanity.

Perfect roleplaying game for over 30's!.......2007-08-08

It's been a good 20 years since I've played a roleplaying game, and was reluctant to go back to hacking up Orcs with a +2 Broadsword.
After some research I learnt about Cthulhu. Unsure of whether to use the original rulebook ( this one ) or the revised (controversial) D20 version, I proceeded to warm my credit card and get both ( the d20 out-of-print version costing double the cost of this book ).

The d20 book arrived first, and I was quite disappointed. The artwork was juvenile, the game system over complicated. There's just something about adding up endless numbers and then rolling a 20-sided dice that is just, well, uncompelling. The d20 version also has none of the 1920's theme that (for me) was half the movie.

Two weeks later, this book arrived. Call me old fashioned, but what a treat. Emotive, moody black and white illustrations,numberous Lovecraft quotes(even the full Cthulhu short story), and straightforward game system that appeals to an adult that doesn't have time for convoluted bollocks.
The writing style is both simple, engaging and quite tongue in cheek.
Even if you never plan to drag your married friends around a table and force them to roll funny little dice, the book holds up as beautifully realized tribute to Lovecraft and pulp supernatural horror.

I now understand what all the fuss was about between d20 and the original.

Sandy's version wins. Hands down.

PS. mint condition d20 cthulhu rulebook for sale :)

d100.......2007-07-25

This is the old system based on d100 for skills. The rules are easy to understand, enough examples are included and not too much as to make it tedious. The book was inspiring.

A great book / supplement..........2007-02-17

If you have an interest in the Cthulhu Mythos, even if you don't roleplay, you're going to love this book. It's worth buying just for the three story scenarios in the back. They are impeccably written, and more atmospheric than most of the Lovecraft pastiche you see floating around now days.

Fun Evening.......2006-12-15

A gamer friend introduced our social group to this game about a year ago. Many people think these games are just for kids. They aren't. We are 30 something to 50 something in age and we had a great time working together to solve our "case." If you have never played one of these role playing games, they aren't all about weapons and fighting. Yes there are monsters to deal with but this series is ripe with 1920's ambiance that makes the characters fun to play. This rule book contains several adventures to get you started and from there you can choose other scenerio's like San Franciso or New York during the same time period. Share the fun with friends and a good bottle of wine. You won't be disappointed.

Delta Green: Countdown (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, Modern Era)

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Pagan Does it Again!
Not Receive
A CoC supplement that kicks ... and takes names...
An essential supplement for Call of Cthulhu!
Just what I wanted

Delta Green: Countdown (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, Modern Era)
Dennis Detwiller , Adam S. Glancy , and John Tynes
Manufacturer: Pagan Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Delta Green (Call of Cthulhu D20)

ASIN: 1887797122

Book Description

Delta Green: Countdown is a supplement of the Role Playing Game Call of Cthulhu. It is a sequel to the award winning Delta Green supplement and expands that campaign setting into the realm of the international. It includes seven new modern organizations with an interest in the Cthulhu Mythos, three new scenarios and a wealth of appendices.

Customer Reviews:

Pagan Does it Again!.......2005-11-30

If Delta Green is the Best RPG suppliment ever, then this is Number 2. You get more bang for the buck out of this book for $40 than you do in 4 $20 books. It's very well written and is a great read as well. It is how a RPG SHOULD be written.
If you're a Call of Cthulhu gamer, then this book is a MUST! If you like horror, X-Files, etc...then check it out.

Not Receive.......2005-09-30

This product is awesome, but i don't receive form amazon, i buy from others sellers because the delay of order.

This order be canceled.

A CoC supplement that kicks ... and takes names..........2002-02-25

Well worth the seemingly hefty price. In addition to containing source material that benefits *any* modern-day game (e.g. details on international law-enforcement agencies), it includes expansions on things alluded to in the main Delta Green book, such as the Army of the Third Eye, and new icky horrors like the Skoptsi.

There is also wonderful information on ghoul society and on the "King in Yellow"/Hastur mythos, concluding with "Night Floors," which is in my opinion one of the best damn adventures ever written.

An essential supplement for Call of Cthulhu!.......2001-06-11

If you already have Delta Green, Countdown should be your next purchase (if you don't have Delta Green, BUY IT!!!). Countdown adds write-ups for PISCES (Britain), GRU SV-8 (Russia), The Skoptsi, The Outlook Group, Phenomen-X, Keepers of the Faith (Ghouls), and a new look at The Hastur Mythos. Add rules for the Gift (Psychic Powers) and international templates from all over the world and you have a book that would be cheap at twice the price!!

Pagan Publishing has done it again!!!

Just what I wanted.......2000-08-31

After getting and reading the Delta Green book, I was very impressed, but left wanting more. The main DG book has a lot of detail, but it's scope is a bit limited - the main adversaries available are MJ-12, the Karotechia, the Fate, the Mi-Go, and that's about it. There is a lot of terrific, well-researched info on these four, but I wanted more options. More options is what Countdown provides. The bulk of the large book is taken up by thorough, detailed descriptions of more organizations, much like the ones in the original book. These add a wealth of additional details and possibilities to the game world. If you're going to run a DG game, you definitely want to have this book!

Malleus Monstrorum: Creatures, Gods, & Forbidden Knowledge: Roleplaying Game Guide (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game)

Average customer rating:

Deep Ones are just the surface

Malleus Monstrorum: Creatures, Gods, & Forbidden Knowledge: Roleplaying Game Guide (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game)
Scott David Aniolowski
Manufacturer: Chaosium
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1568821794

Customer Reviews:

Deep Ones are just the surface.......2007-03-08

of this amazing collection of CoC beasties. I don't play CoC currently, but this book is so useful that it's worth having and converting d20 to CoC is fairly simple.

The Keeper's Companion: Blasphemous Knowledge, Forbidden Secrets: A Core Book for Keepers, Vol. 1 (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, #2388)

Average customer rating:

Purchased as a gift.
The Big Book of Useful Filler

The Keeper's Companion: Blasphemous Knowledge, Forbidden Secrets: A Core Book for Keepers, Vol. 1 (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, #2388)
Keith Herber , and William Deitze
Manufacturer: Chaosium, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1568821441

Product Description

The Keeper's Companion vol. 1 is an invaluable resource for Call of Cthulhu keepers. New material includes advice for new keepers, a lengthy study of Mythos artifacts, a learned discussion of many occult books, an up-to-the-moment description of every facet of forensic medicine, a thorough revision and expansion of the game skills (including nearly two dozen new ones), and the augmented text of the Keeper's Compendium, somewhat updated forbidden books, secret cults, alien races, and mysterious places. Additional short essays and features round out this book.

Customer Reviews:

Purchased as a gift........2007-01-15

I got this as a gift for my son-in-law. I have no knowledge of the book itself other than the person for whom it was purchased seems to like it very much. For me it served its purpose very well.

The Big Book of Useful Filler.......2002-03-17

One of the very nice things about the Call of Cthulhu role playing game from Chaosium is that they rarely publish pure junk or something that doesn't have something useful within its pages, somewhere. The Keeper's Companion is just one of those books, yes, it contains material from the main rules and Cthulhu Now, but expands upon it, it is also laid out in a clear fashion that makes finding things easy. The first section, "Good Cthulhu Hunting", is mainly sage advice for players and written with tongue firmly in cheek, but also makes a good deal of sense as a sort of `Dos and Don'ts' section. It is followed by a section for Keepers, a sort of thirteen ways to improve your game. Again, common sense advice for the foolish GM who might have let his investigators keep the repeating laser cannon they found in the last adventure.

Call of Cthulhu is best played, not people who know the genre cold, but rather by novices who understand the mechanics, not the genre. Lovecraft's world is a mundane one, intruded upon by the not-so-mundane, whether it be something relatively minor as an encounter with a solitary Deep One or a sanity-blasting encounter with Yog-Sothoth, the all-in-one god, it is the character's imperiled peace of mind which will be steadily chipped away by the stuff of nightmares and that which mankind is best to ought not know. Players kept in the dark, fed only what they need or discover on their own, are the best players of all.

There follows the advice section, pages on books of the occult, most or all are actual books, some of which can be found on Amazon, but that you would be better of not reading. Exciting sounding tomes like `The Book of the Dead' or the `Golden Bough' are deadly dull and won't do anything except upset your parents and Tipper Gore. However, it is a nice lexicon for GMs who may want to throw non-Mythos books at their players from time to time. Following that is a handy little section on languages, real and Mythos-related, and their origins. It also includes some badly drawn examples of things like Mi-Go runes and R'lyeh glyphs.

The next section is an expanded and detailed listing of those oh-so-wonderful mind melting pages of actual Mythos tomes- those great books that burn through your sanity, but also give you spells your characters can use. It also adds a few new spells and creatures taken from additional stories written by other authors. Next up is Arcane Antiquities, which is basically magic items and happily it bears little or no resemblance to the back of the AD&D Dungeon Master's Guide. Magic items in Call of Cthulhu are extremely rare. There are a couple of mirrors, a dagger, a ring, and a few other odd devices, so don't expect any +4 swords of dimensional shambler slaying.

Let's face it, cults make life interesting. Even in real life cults provide annual entertainment with their suicidal comet worshiping antics. In Call of Cthulhu they are a somewhat less self-destructive and instead are bent on summon up some moldering nightmare to screw with mankind's mojo. Cultists are great fun, both for Keppers and player alike. As bad as it was, the guys resurrecting Imhotep in the The Mummy Returns were great, if comical and somewhat inept, examples of cultists. Cultists can come in any flavor and hardly need to be justified since they're nuts.

Forensics has always been a hobby of mine. One of the aspects of Call of Cthulhu I have always admired is their inclusion of real world details to really give Keepers and players a sense of how it all works. While Cthulhu Now pretty much gives anyone a brief history of forensics, from the first documented coroner inquests in England right up to DNA evidence- it's all here as well in easy to read and understand terms, complete with bibliography. From the ways people die to firearms and drugs, it's all distilled down into a handy reference.

From the mundane we arrive at Alien Races, a collection of beings and their origins from Deep Ones to the fungi from Yuggoth to the Voormis of the Hyperborea, this section gives the reader a little more detail than the standard entries in the creatures section in the main rule book. Next is Mysterious Places and includes Atlantis (bleah!), Hyperborea, unknown Kadath, Lemuria (also bleah!), unfortunately, they only give us a scant three paragraphs on R'lyeh, the sunken city and tomb of Great Cthulhu. Finally, the last section is on Skills, adds some new ones and explains all in great detail.

All in all a welcome addition to my growing Call of Cthulhu collection, a game that I have played for nearly twenty years. I miss the late eighties/early nineties covers and don't much care for the cover art. However, this is a good addition for Keepers who may want to add a little more detail to their campaigns. Like most of Chaosium's publications, it is well researched and exceptionally well written while being very readable, fun and occasionally funny. It may lack detail in some places, and this is probably it's only real flaw- the alien creatures and places section could have had a little more meat in them, but other than that it's a solid addition...

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The Keeper's Companion 2: Prohibition, Firearms, Tomes, & Creatures (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying, 2395)
Adam Gauntlett , and Brian M. Sammons
Manufacturer: Chaosium
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Keeper's Companion: Blasphemous Knowledge, Forbidden Secrets: A Core Book for Keepers, Vol. 1 (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, #2388)

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Secrets Of New York: A Mythos Guide to the City That Never Sleeps (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying)

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Malleus Monstrorum: Creatures, Gods, & Forbidden Knowledge: Roleplaying Game Guide (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game)

ASIN: 1568821867

Average customer rating:

A Great Modern-era Sourcebook for "Call of Cthulhu!"

Great book for Mythos adventuring!

Great Supplement!

Devil's Land

The Bermuda Triangle (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, 1990s Era)
Justin Schmid
Manufacturer: Chaosium Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Last Rites: Four Present-Day Adventures for Call of Cthulhu (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game) (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game)

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ASIN: 1568821220

Customer Reviews:

A Great Modern-era Sourcebook for "Call of Cthulhu!".......2006-05-31

I found this to be an excellent "modern-day" resource for the "Call of Cthulhu" role playing game. Fans of other settings for the game probably won't find it as interesting, or as useful, but if you like to play your "CoC" in the "here and now," this is definitely a must-have resource.

Chaosium's summary text for this product reads: "What secrets lie within the Devil's Triangle? Why was the Mary Celeste abandoned after it passed through the triangle's waters? What caused the disappearance of an entire flight of Avengers in 1945? Why do electronics fail in the triangle for no apparent reason? Now, the answers can at last be revealed.

"'The Bermuda Triangle' is a 1990s sourcebook centered around the famous mystery of the Devil's Triangle. It acts as a guidebook to the entire Caribbean region, detailing not only Bermuda, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, and other nearby islands, but also exposing the mysteries of Rha'thylla, the Sargasso Sea, and more. Guidelines are included for running entire Caribbean campaigns. The book concludes with 'The Privateer's Diary,' a scenario."

Great book for Mythos adventuring!.......2004-02-26

I have long been a fan of the works of the late Howard P. Lovecraft, and when I discovered a roleplaying game set in his horror universe existed, I knew I had to get it. From the modules to the setting books and creature compendiums, CoC has been a never-ending delight for my inner horror gamer. I highly recommend this sourcebook, along with every single other CoC sourcebook, module, and rulebook. Call of Cthulhu is definitely worth it!

Great Supplement!.......2003-04-06

This book is a great addition to any CoC collection. Not only does it provide tons of information on the people, politics, and customs of the Bermuda triangle and surrounding areas, but it is loaded with useful creatures, ideas, theories, etc. It has many charts that all keepers should find useful, such as one that randomnly chooses a sea animal. And, to top it all off, it comes with a scenario that I cant wait to throw on my investigators. It is well worth the cost, and then some!

Devil's Land.......2000-04-26

This book is very good if you enjoy the modern adventures for this game. I really liked it because i am very interested in the Bermuda Triangle. I won't tell you any of the story because it would ruin the fun of the game. I wouldn't reccomend this book if you enjoy long campaigns like Beyond th Mountains of Madness (which took me a couple of months to complete with my friends). I would highly recommend this book to anyone except people who like the 20's or 30's adventures.

Secrets of San Francisco: A 1920s Sourcebook for the City By the Bay (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying)

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Secrets of San Francisco: A 1920s Sourcebook for the City By the Bay (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying)
Cody Goodfellow , David Conyers , Brian M. Sammons , Elizabeth A. Wolcott , and Hilary Ayer
Manufacturer: Chaosium
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1568821875

Tatters of the King: Hastur's Gaze Gains Brief Focus Upon the Earth (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying)

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Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?

Tatters of the King: Hastur's Gaze Gains Brief Focus Upon the Earth (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying)
Tim Wiseman
Manufacturer: Chaosium Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1568821840

Customer Reviews:

Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?.......2007-04-01

I run a Living Arcanis campaign, which also contains Freeport. With a wealth of material at my disposal, I decided to pick up Tatters of the King (TOK) to see how I could fit it into my campaign. I should point out that this is a long playtest review that contains spoilers galore. To help clarify what I did differently in my campaign, I will use a PLAYTEST tag.

Tatters of the King is a massive Call of Cthulhu adventure that details the invasion of Hastur on Earth. It's Hastur's grand oeuvre, presenting him as a Cthulhu-like entity, as the King in Yellow, and as a husband deity to Shub-Niggurath. Four cultists, each participating in a different path to bring about Hastur, attempt to contact him, only to go their separate ways. It's up to the player characters (PCs) to stop them.

Montague Edwards and Lawrence Bacon made an Unspeakable Oath with Hastur. Edwards regenerates, Bacon never sleeps. Alexander Roby is inexorably tied to Carcosa and the Yellow Sign, and only he can summon it to Earth. Malcom Quarrie is the most dangerous and the most committed to bringing the King in Yellow to Earth. The four unknowingly have a rival cultist in their mist, one Wilfred Gresty, who worships Shub-Niggurath and doesn't buy any of this "bride of Hastur" stuff.

The adventure begins with an opening night of the play, The King in Yellow, that drives people mad who witness it. There's an after-party held in celebration of the success of the event, wherein the PCs get to meet the author, Talbot Estus, and his players. A great introduction to the insanity to follow.

[PLAYTEST: I placed the events in Freeport. Two of the PCs were present and ultimately escaped the madness that ensued. They returned in time to attend the opening night reception. There, one PC (Sebastian the sorcerer) decided Talbot Estus, was too dangerous to live and murdered him in cold blood.]

In the mean time, the PCs are tasked with getting their friend, Alexander Roby, out of an insane asylum at the behest of Doctor Trollope. There were murders in the prison blamed on Roby, although how he committed them is impossible to tell. In reality, Edwards, who posed as a guard in the prison, committed the murders. The PCs are encouraged to interview Roby, who provides a telling prophecy both for the end of the campaign and of Doctor Trollope's death.

[PLAYTEST: I changed Doctor Trollpe to be Kham the psychic warrior/rogue's father. I made Roby a childhood friend of Kham to provide more relevance. I also inserted a few adventures here involving finding Kham's father and a side jaunt into a "The Thing"-like adventure. The PCs witnessed a strange summoning involving nine monoliths and were attacked by byakhee. It also started to snow, unheard of in tropical Freeport. I made it a point of having an incarnation of the King in Yellow tell Kham that "he was the key."]

With Trollope knowing too much, Edwards' chief henchman, Michael Coombs, assassinates him. The PCs receive a posthumous note from Trollope indicating that Roby predicted his death with a spell. Wilfred Gresty, a rival cultist of Shub-Niggurath, slips one of the PCs a note about Lawrence Bacon's whereabouts with the intent of catching him in the act of draining the homeless of their lifeofce.

[PLAYTEST: Having Trollope be Kham's dad infused the adventure with a lot of emotional energy. Once he connected Bacon to his father's murderer, Kham tracked down the cultist and a showdown ensued, resulting in Bacon falling off a bridge into icy water. One cultist down, three to go!]

A subsequent search of Bacon's home reveals a group of ghoul living in Bacon's basement.

[PLAYTEST: In my campaign, ghouls were created through an addictive drug called ghoul juice. It wasn't too much of a stretch that Bacon was both a drug dealer as well as a dealer in antiquities. Kham, with no regard for his own safety, barely escaped with his life.]

Determined to summon Hastur, Edwards breaks Roby out of prison. The next connection is an obituary for Bacon, written by none other than Aleister Crowley. The PCs are expected to visit Crowley and wheedle information out of him about Montague Edwards.

[PLAYTEST: As a real-life analogue, Crowley had no place in Arcanis. So I went all out, turning him into the front man for a sadistic cult. They kidnapped one of the female PCs. This culminated in a battle in Crowley's basement, who eventually gave up the information they sought but escaped penalty due to his social and political connections.]

Hot on the trail of Edwards, the PCs journey north only to discover that Roby succeeded: Carcosa has been summoned to Earth. Coombs plays a cat-and-mouse game with the PCs until they finally kill him. They then track down Roby and Edwards just in time to see Edwards summon thousands of byakhee and Hastur himself.

[PLAYTEST: Kham killed Edwards easily, but was unable to stop the summoning. There are several ways to stop it, but I went for the dramatic approach. Roby demanded Kham throw him a pistol in self-defense--in reality, Roby knew he was the key to closing Carcosa. So he shoots himself. Ilmare and Kham barely escaped with their lives. The town left behind was utterly obliterated by Carcosa and Hastur's appearance. Three cultists down, one to go!]

Time passes. The PCs meet Gresty, presumably when he's in prison. He reveals information about Shug-Niggurath and its rivalry with the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign. He also provides a link to events happening at Nug's Farm.

There, Hillary Quarrie, the wife of Malcolm, is in fact the heir-apparent to the Shub-Niggurath priesthood. Only Gresty lusts for her power, creating an inevitable showdown. This is the single-most exciting part of the campaign, with the PCs going toe-to-toe with a Dark Young. Only a ritual cast by Hillary saves them.

Using information gleaned from Hillary, the PCs travel to Milan. There, they met up with Thomas Villiers, who ultimately betrays them with another byakhee. This in turn reveals where Malcolm disappeared to: Drakmar, in Tibet.

[PLAYTEST: Fortunately, Arcanis has portals that span the planet, so I skipped what I consider to be the most boring part of the adventure: long overland travel. The PCs resumed the adventure at the Monastery at Te, wherein they met Carlo Schippone, a crack shot. They made short work of him and journeyed onward to meet the Horror from the Hills.

And that horror is Chaugnar Faugn. The PCs didn't do anything stupid, although the adventure makes much of what happens if they do. Surrounded by Tcho-Tchos, the PCs were dutifully ushered past Chaugnar Faugn into the Plateau of Leng, where they met Malcolm Quarrie at last.

Only Quarrie is a pacifist. Bound and determined to summon the King in Yellow, Sebastian convinced Quarrie that they are aligned in their goals. This worked for a little while until Shantaks attack. That's when Sebastian used the opportunity to kill Quarrie in cold blood. See a pattern here?]

Finally, the PCs meet the King in Yellow. He simply asks who will lead him to Earth. PCs who hesitate...DIE.

[PLAYTEST: Kham, convinced that this was his burden to bear, agreed at first...then changed his mind. The King slit his throat. Sebastian was up next. He planned to lead the King astray. And so he did, leading him back to Carcosa and taking Sebastian (at least temporarily) out of play. The adventure left the PCs feeling like they had lost even though they had saved the world.]

TOK is an excellent series of adventures, marred occasionally by the usual Cthulhu foils: assuming investigators will be naive or helpless (these days, most investigators carry guns and in my D&D game, they carry really heavy firepower in the form of spells), spending way too much time on overland travel, and an overemphasis on how PCs can avoid going insane by closing their eyes...a decidedly unheroic thing to do that shouldn't work anyway.

But when TOK hits its mark, it really makes for memorable sessions. The moral quandaries that the PCs regularly faced made for exciting play, and the fever pitch of the Dark Young showdown is magnificent...unfortunately it has very little to do with the main plot (it's essentially internecine squabbling with a completely unrelated cult).

There are plenty of notes and props, all of them useful. Especially intriguing are the nightmares that the PCs experience and the means of conveying the King in Yellow's telepathy (it involves cue cards). All of this made for evocative scenes that kept my PCs guessing.

Best of all, TOK plays for keeps. While the sacrifice of two PCs was a serious blow, it FELT like the conclusion to a series. And given the grand tour of Hastur and his ilk, we all appreciated the ending.

H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying)

Average customer rating:

Gives the Cthulhu Core Book a Run for its Money
Complete Indeed

H. P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying)
Chris Williams , and Sandy Petersen
Manufacturer: Chaosium
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1568821573

Book Description

H.P. Lovecraft's: Dreamlands Roleplaying beyond the Wall of Sleep A Hardcover Sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu

We all dream. For some, dreams can become reality. H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands provides everything needed for Call of Cthulhu investigators to travel down the seven hundred steps, through the Gates of Deeper Slumber, and into the realm of dreams. Includes a travelogue of the dreamlands, a huge gazetteer, dreamlands character creation rules, over thirty prominent NPC's, over 60 monsters who dwell within the dreamlands, descriptions of the dreamlands gods and their cults, six adventures to help jump start a dreamlands campaign, and a new fold out map of the Dreamlands by Andy Hopp. Hardcover.

Includes the Adventures Pickmans Student; The Lemon Sails, To sleep, Perchance to Dream; Season of the Witch; The Land of Lost Dreams;Captives of Two Worlds by Sandy Petersen.

Customer Reviews:

Gives the Cthulhu Core Book a Run for its Money.......2006-03-16

After I bought the Core Book for Call of Cthulhu I did not think any of the Supplementals could rival the information, story, and imagination but Dreamlands comes very close. It encapsulates HPL's world very concisely and accurately. It even includes a nicely illustrated Dreamland map.

Complete Indeed.......2005-03-19

This hardback copy of HP Lovecraft's Dreamlands is an improvement over the 4th edition. Previously removed adventures were restored, with Lovecraft's original conception of the land of Xura. It still has Lumley's description of Zura and the Eidolon Lathi, which many people resented. I just found it interesting that the scenario involving Xura (not Zura) admits that the decription is different from the one in the sourcebook, but was still worthy of inclusion.

To begin with, it is a nice hardback book. I like my source books to be hardcover for more use. I tend to mangle softcovers that are used a lot for reference. There is a nice color landscape on the inside covers. However, all other graphics are black and white, which at least cost less. Some of the pages weren't bound well either.

The material begins with a description of dreaming, the land of dream, and how to get there. This edition says that in order to enter through dreams, characters must have less than 300 points of modern skills (science and technology); they can still enter via other methods (artifacts, magic, and chemicals). The dreaming skill is described, which allows MP and POW to be used to alter reality within the dreamlands.

The next section is a paraphrase of "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath". I assumed it would merely leave out some prose from HPL, but it also includes further information on each of the areas that Carter visited - very informative and fun to read! The Gazeteer of the Dreamlands follows, which divides the world into the North, East, West, Seas, Oriab, the Moon, and the Underworld. I didn't feel that these sections were well-developed; it was almost just a list of places and people. It really would have been more productive to focus on a few sites of interest and add more background to those than do a lukewarm job on all of them.

Afterwards, there are sections on people, creatures, and gods of the Dreamlands. These are mostly complete, but the major races and gods ere only references to read the core rulebook. I would have preferred to see the entries repeated than have to pull out another book for the most important denizens of the Dreamlands. There are also artifacts, books, and many spells - the magic of the Dreamlands is much more powerful in its ability to warp "reality".

There are then 6 scenarios presented. The first is two pages, and really just a suggestion to travel through the Dreamlands to meet a friend - big whoop. This is a "seed", not a "scenario". "The Land of Lost Dreams" and "Season of the Witch" are powerful narratives with physical and psychological challenges for investigators to overcome. "Pickman's Student" is a horrific transformation of a friend into a fiend from the Underworld, requiring a travel to the Dreamlands to gain assistance to end the change. "Lemon Sails" seems like a fun adventure for Dreamlands-only characters, although the plot is forced.

One huge point in favor of this book is a section on creating a dreamlands character, with rolls, skills, and a character sheet. There are occupation skill sets listed and weapons more common to dreams. This allows the Dreamlands book to be used as a standalone, which I think adds a LOT of value. There is also a bibliography of authors and stories referenced in the dreamlands - a great reading list!

I think this book has some weak points - a lot of names of cities and people, but not much info. Clearly, this allows the Keeper to improvise a lot, but then if you wanted to do that, why buy the sourcebook? But there is a lot to approve of - the restoration of all the scenarios, the acknowledgement of the difference between Lovecraft and Lumley on some points, the rules for creating a character so that this supplement can be a standalone, and, well, the hardcover itself. Might be worth upgrading if you own 4th edition, otherwise a good buy for anyone new to dreams.

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