Kingsport: The City In The Mists (Supplement)
This article is about the Call of Cthulhu supplement. For other uses of Kingsport, please see Kingsport (Disambiguation)
Details
Publisher: Chaosium
1st Edition
Product Code: 2333
Publishing Year: 1991
Pages: 124
Cover Price: $##.##
Author(s): Kevin A. Ross, Mark Morrison, Keith Herber, Scott David Aniolowski
Artist(s): John T. Snyder (cover), Jason Eckhardt, Gus DiZerega, Carol-Triplett (maps)
Format(s): Softcover
ISBN: 0-933635-77-X
2nd Edition = "H.P. Lovecraft's Kingsport"
Product Code: 8804
Publishing Year: 2003
Pages: 178
Cover Price: $25.95
Author(s): Kevin Ross
Additional material: Mark Morrison, Keith Herber, and Scott David Aniolowski
d20 adaptation: Brian Campbell
Cover painting and portrait sketches: John T. Snyder
Interior illustrations: Jason Eckhardt
Large map of Kingsport and illustration of Kingsport Head: Gus Dizerega
All other maps: Carol Triplett
Project and editorial: Keith Herber
Layout: Charlie Krank (based on the page design of Pegasus Spiele)
Cover design: Charlie Krank
Copyreading and proofreading: Brian Campbell and Lynn Willis
Playtesting: Stephanie A. Propp, David Andersen, Brian Girard, Paul Rivas, Shannon Sprock, Anthony "Dream Boy" Forsmark, James "Bad News" Weiman, Timothy G. Hunsicker (the Unbeliever), Eric "Evil Ed" Duneman, and Todd A. Woods
Format(s): Softcover
ISBN: 1-568821-67-0
Setting(s): 1920s
Contents
The Kingsport book is the third in Chaosium's series describing the core Lovecraft Country setting. As with all volumes in this series, the town is described in a nominal time frame of late 1928 (which is after the events in Lovecraft's three major Kingsport-based stories).
Kingsport is a coastal town located a morning's stroll from Arkham. Draped in mists and fog, it is home to artists and fishermen, sailors and dreamers. Here dreams and reality mingle to an unsettling degree.
Some find solace in such dreams; others find only terror and death. Charles Baxter's dreams drove him to despair. He took his own life, throwing himself into the sea. The only clues to his demise: a water-soaked collection of poems.
Horrors exist in the real world of Kingsport as well, remnants of an ancient witch-cult that once infested the town. Unspeakable things crawl through their burrows beneath Central Hill and lurk in the fogs off Jersey Reef, preying on fishermen and unsuspecting tourists alike.
Kingsport's soothing atmosphere and beautiful setting beckons to vacationers. Its perch on the brink of the dreamworld inspires artists. Investigators come to Kingsport to find understanding of the dark realms of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Kingsport describes this fabled Massachusetts town in meticulous detail — its important personalities, buildings, history, and its weird people and places. This book also features a fold-out players' map of the town, a tourist brochure describing places of interest, and three new adventures. These range in tone from wonder to terror, and bring to life the unique atmosphere of Kingsport. These tales of dreams, mysteries, and alien horrors include player aids for added realism and enjoyment.
Source Material
Source material is divided as follows:
- 1st Edition: History of Kingsport, A Guide to Kingsport, The Kingsport Cult
- 2nd Edition: Welcome to Kingsport, History of Kingsport, the Kingsport Cult, A Guide to Kingsport
Articles: Plagued by Dreams (found in both editions)
Kingsport Gazeteer
The gazeteer section ("A Guide to Kingsport") divides the town into nine regions as follows:
- Neighborhood 1: Harborside
- Neighborhood 2: The Hollow
- Neighborhood 3: Central Hill
- Neighborhood 4: South Shore
- Neighborhood 5: Downtown
- Neighborhood 6: The West Side
- Neighborhood 7: Hill Town
- Neighborhood 8: Kingsport Outskirts
- Kingsport Head
This section also includes a "Town Directory" which groups entries into thematic categories
Other Information
The 2nd Edition includes additional fiction (H.P. Lovecraft's short stories The Strange High House in the Mist and The Festival) as well as an appendix giving d20 statistics.
Extras:
- 1st Edition: Map of Kingsport pullout, Kingsport Holiday Brochure pullout, Player Handouts
- 2nd Edition: Introduction, Player Handouts
Scenarios: The House on the Edge, Dreams & Fancies, Dead in the Water
1st Edition Front Cover Text
No additional text.
1st Edition Back Cover Text
List all the text on the back cover.
2nd Edition Front Cover Text
Dual System 1920s
The City in the Mists
2nd Edition Back Cover Text
Kingsport is a coastal town located a morning's stroll from Arkham. Draped in mists and fog, it is home to artists and fishermen, sailors and dreamers. Here dreams and reality mingle to an unsettling degree.
Some find solace in such dreams; others find only terror and death. Charles Baxter's dreams drove him to despair. He took his own life, throwing himself into the sea. The only clues to his demise: a water-soaked collection of poems.
Horrors exist in the real world of Kingsport as well, remnants of an ancient witch-cult that once infested the town. Unspeakable things crawl through their burrows beneath Central Hill and lurk in the fog off Jersey Reef, preying on fishermen and unsuspecting tourists alike.
Kingsport's soothing atmosphere and beautiful setting beckons to vacationers. Its perch on the brink of the dream-world inspires artists. Investigators come to Kingsport to find understanding of the dark realms of the Cthulhu Mythos. H. P. Lovecraft's Kingsport describes this fabled Massachusetts town in meticulous detail- its important personalities, buildings, history, and its weird people and places. This book also features a fold-out players' map of the town, a tourist brochure describing places of interest, and three adventures with player aids for added realism and enjoyment.
Comments / Trivia
Both editions of this book provide a historical Sourcebook for Kingsport.
The 2nd Edition represents a revised version which includes statistics for d20 Call of Cthulhu. Additional changes include the addition of two of Lovecraft's short stories and the change of the character Solomon Oakes to Israel Soames.
Dedication: "This is for my folks, Ken and Wilma, for putting up with me for so long and for putting me in my place when I needed it -- which is often. And also for HPL and all the Outsiders to whom he's brought inspiration and enjoyment. And fear."
Links
None.
Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only
Players should not read any further.
Gazeteer References
References to Mythos creatures, tomes, artifacts, and Lovecraftian locations that appear within this book's scenarios are described in the pages detailing these scenarios. There are, however, numerous such references made in the gazeteer section (and thus not associated with a specific scenario). These references are detailed below.
Locations: Strange High House, The White Ship, Dreamlands (Ulthar, Nir, Dylath-Leen), R'lyeh
Creatures: Tulzscha (passing reference), Crawling Ones, Servitor of the Outer Gods, Byakhee, Cthulhu, Ythogtha (passing reference), Deep Ones, corpse worms, Cerberus, Azathoth (passing reference)
People: The Terrible Old Man, Asenath Waite
Tomes and Artifacts: Ponape Scriptures (new historical information given), Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New England Canaan, Studies of the Indians of the Miskatonic Valley, Sussex Manuscript, Vermiis Mysteriis, excerpts from the Necronomicon, The Outer Ones, Witch Cult in Western Europe, People of the Monolith, Revelations of Glaaki, Visions from Yaddith, Book of Eibon, Pnakotic Manuscripts, Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan (here called "Seven Cryptical Books of Earth")
New Spells: Call Forth the Worm, Create Self-Ward, The Soul-Trap, Spectral Razor, View Gate
New Creatures: Crawling Ones, Martin's Beach Monster (Sea Serpent)
New Weapons: Boathook, Gaff, Marlinspike, Flare Pistol
Other Rules: expanded occupation writeup for Artist
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