The House of R'lyeh (Supplement)
Details
Publisher: Chaosium
Product Code: 23127
Publishing Year: 2013
Pages: 224
Cover Price: $33.95
Author(s): Brian M. Sammons, David Conyers, Brian Courtemanche, Peter Gilham, Glyn White
Artist(s): Scott Purdy (cover), Caleb Cleveland, Damian Couceiro, Earl Geier, Robert Hack, Jolene Houser, Tony Parker, Steve Purcell, David Conyers (maps), Glyn White (maps)
Setting(s): Classic
Format(s): Softcover, PDF
ISBN: 1-56882-364-9
Contents
The House of R'lyeh
1920s Investigations after Lovecraft
Edited by David Conyers and Glyn White
The House of R'lyeh contains five scenarios that closely follow the events of H.P. Lovecraft stories. They are set in Boston, Providence, the British Isles, continental Europe and the Middle East. None of the scenarios need to be played at set dates or in a set order, but they could be run in the order presented to form a loose campaign using optional links between scenarios to draw investigators from one to the other.
Alternatively, the scenarios may be used to supplement classic Call of Cthulhu campaigns such as The Shadows of Yog-Sothoth and The Fungi from Yuggoth, the latter currently in print as The Day of the Beast, both of which suggest their component scenarios should be interspersed with others.
- The first scenario in this book, The Art of Madness (Brian Courtemanche) follows on from the events of the Lovecraft tale Pickman’s Model. Artist of the macabre, Richard Upton Pickman, is now a ghoul living a subterranean netherworld beneath Boston creating a new school of art. There are several ways that player characters might be drawn into investigating his macabre activities and, while dangerous, Pickman’s intent is not particularly lethal. The difficulty for investigators will be to resolve the situation without becoming compromised.
- While in New England, the investigators discover The Crystal of Chaos (Peter Gilham with David Conyers), a retelling of the events of Lovecraft’s The Haunter of the Dark. Hired by professors of Miskatonic University, the investigator seek out a fabled crystal with origins in Ancient Egypt, but they soon find a far greater evil lurks in an abandoned church in Providence. This scenario originally appeared in Different Worlds issue 34, May/June 1984, and has been expanded and revised in this publication.
- The Return of the Hound (Glyn White) draws investigators to an auction in Yorkshire, in England, where a rare edition of the Necronomicon is going to be sold. The previous owners, the decadent occultists from Lovecraft’s The Hound, are dead, as that tale recounts, but what they unearthed in 'a Holland churchyard' has grown strong, and has schemes of its own to fulfill. The amount of danger the investigators face is dependent on how determined they are not to let this Necronomicon fall into the wrong hands.
- The Jermyn Horror (David Conyers) takes place in Britain, beginning in London and then moving to Huntingdon with the investigators seeking a rare edition of Regnum Congo, reputedly to be found in the crumbling estate of the deceased Jermyn family as described in Lovecraft’s Arthur Jermyn. The search is imperiled by a creature that a Jermyn brought back from the Congo some three hundred years ago that haunts the mansion seeking a human vessel for its escape.
- Nameless City, Nameless Terrors (Brian M. Sammons) concludes this collection with an expedition into the heart of Arabia’s Empty Quarter in search of Irem as described in Lovecraft’s The Nameless City. This scenario requires investigators to risk their bodies and their minds as, in the midst of the desolate ruins of Irem, the investigators learn something of the nature of the Great Old Ones, and perhaps forestall the rising of Cthulhu from his watery grave.
This will be a full book, with illustrations and maps and nice print production. The scenarios follow directly on from the events of Lovecraft's stories Pickman's Model, The Haunter in the Darkness, The Hound, Arthur Jermyn and The Nameless City.
Scenarios: The Art of Madness, The Crystal of Chaos, The Return of the Hound, The Jermyn Horror, Nameless City, Nameless Terrors
Front Cover Text
List all the text from the front cover.
Back Cover Text
List all the text on the back cover.
Comments / Trivia
Brian Sammons' Irem scenario was formerly part of an aborted expansion of Shadows of Yog-Sothoth (Campaign).
Links
- Forum thread mentioning this upcoming release
- Review by Eric Dodd at RPGGeek
- [http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/04/22/tabletop-review-the-house-of-rlyeh-call-of-cthulhu/ Review by Alex Lucard at Diehard Gamefan
Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only
Players should not read any further.
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