Escape from Innsmouth (Supplement)

Details

檔案:Escape From Innsmouth, 1st Edition.jpg

1st Edition Front Cover

檔案:Escape From Innsmouth, 2nd Edition.jpg

2nd Edition Front Cover

Publisher: Chaosium

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1st Edition

Product Code: 2338

Publishing Year: 1992

Pages: 162

Cover Price: $21.95

Author(s): Kevin A. Ross, Fred Behrendt, Mike Szymanski, Scott David Aniolowski, Mark Morrison, Keith Herber, Penelope Love (minor contribution), John Tynes (minor contribution), Richard Watts (minor contribution)

Artist(s): John T. Snyder (cover), Jason Eckhardt, Tom Kalichack (maps)

Format(s): Softcover

ISBN: 0-933635-65-6

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2nd Edition

Product Code: 2371

Publishing Year: 1997

Pages: 176

Cover Price: $22.95

Author(s): Kevin A. Ross, Scott David Aniolowski, Fred Behrendt, Keith Herber, J. Todd Kingrea, Mark Morrison, Mike Szymanski, Penelope Love (minor contribution), John Tynes (minor contribution), Richard Watts (minor contribution)

Artist(s): John T. Snyder (cover), Jason Eckhardt, Tom Kalichack (original maps), J. Todd Kingrea (new maps)

Format(s): Softcover

ISBN: 1-56882-115-8

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Setting(s): 1920s

Contents

The Innsmouth book is the fourth and final (to-date) sourcebook in Chaosium's series describing the core Lovecraft Country setting. Unlike the other books in this series, which all describe their locales in a nominal time frame of October 1928, this book is set slightly earlier around February, 1928. This time is chosen as being after the protagonist in Lovecraft's story visited the town but before the government raid which followed as a consequence of that visit.

The book contains extensive background information about this New England town -- pertinent buildings, useful people, and important locations are described in depth. Scenarios are provided: the most lengthy and notable being a unique multi-stranded adventure in which the players get to take on the roles of various participants in the US Government raid on Innsmouth. All strands of this scenario are intended to be run in parallel, with the action cutting between different story-lines in a cinematic presentation.

To date, Chaosium have published two editions of this sourcebook. While the nature and detail of the Innsmouth setting has not changed greatly between editions, the second edition incorporates some additional scenario elements, as indicated below.

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1st Edition

The original edition of Escape From Innsmouth is a square-bound book that includes a removable (perforated) 17x22" glossy players' map bound-in. Besides the background on Innsmouth there are also two adventures.

The body of the book is organised into sections:

• Introduction,
• Mysterious Innsmouth,
• Welcome to Innsmouth,
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth (not the Lovecraft story),
• A Guidebook to Innsmouth & Environs,
• Scenario 1: Escape from Innsmouth
• Scenario 2: The Raid on Innsmouth
  • Project Covenant,
  • The Esoteric Order of Dagon,
  • The Marsh Mansion,
  • The Smugglers' Tunnels,
  • Devil Reef,
  • Y'ha-nthlei,
  • The Raid on Innsmouth: Conclusion
• Keeper's Aids (a sheet to help keep track of NPCs in The Raid on Innsmouth, and a large table of Deep One stats for the same scenario),
• Supporting Character Sheets (blank; these allow the pertinent stats for four supporting characters to be listed per page)
• Sinister Seeds (a dozen short plot ideas)

The largest section, the "Guidebook to Innsmouth & Environs" is a gazeteer which divides the town (and surroundings) up into a collection of regions and describes notable locations within each of those areas. The regions are:

• 100: Northern Shoreward Slums (6 entries),
• 200: Old Towne Square and New Church Green (14 entries),
• 300: Fine Old Residential Section (6 entries) [incorrectly identified in the Table of Contents as "New Residential Section"],
• 400: Northern Residential Section (7 entries),
• 500: Riverfront Factory and Commercial Areas (7 entries),
• 600: Southern Residential Area (12 entries),
• 700: The New Merchant District (14 entries),
• 800: Southern Shoreward Slums (3 entries),
• 900: The Harbor Area (8 entries),
• 1000: Outskirts (13 entries, including outlying farmhouses, South Woods Memorial Cemetary, The Abandoned Railway to Rowley, Boynton Beach, Falcon Point, Devil Reef, Y'ha-nthlei, The Smugglers' Tunnels)

Note: Unlike the gazeteers presented in other Lovecraft Country books, this one contains some entries which are "generic" (e.g., "Brick and Stone Warehouses") and apply to many different buildings or locations within a region.

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2nd Edition

The 2nd Edition includes largely the same content as the first (with minor corrections), but makes two significant additions. The first is the addition of a new standalone scenario, The Crawford Inheritance. The second change is the augmentation of The Raid on Innsmouth scenario to add another (parallel) thread to the previous five parts.

This edition features a Separate, glossy map of Innsmouth tucked into the book.

The contents of this edition are:

• Introduction,
• Mysterious Innsmouth,
• Welcome to Innsmouth,
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth (not the Lovecraft story),
• A Guidebook to Innsmouth and Environs,
• The Crawford Inheritance,
• Escape from Innsmouth,
• The Raid on Innsmouth
  • Objective One: Esoteric Order of Dagon,
  • Objective Two: The Marsh Mansion,
  • Objective Three: Smugglers' Tunnels,
  • Objective Four: Devil Reef,
  • Objective Five: Y'ha-nthlei,
  • Objective Six: Marsh Refinery (new to this edition),
  • The Raid on Innsmouth: Conclusion,
• Sinister Seeds,
• Appendix: Lovecraft Country,
• Index,
• Support Character Sheets,
• Investigator Sheets (Front),
• Investigator Sheets (Back).

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Scenarios: The Crawford Inheritance (2nd Edition only), Escape from Innsmouth, The Raid on Innsmouth (scenario with multiple inter-twined threads of action)

1st Edition Front Cover Text

A Desperate Stand Against The Mythos in Lovecraft Country

1st Edition Back Cover Text

ESCAPE FROM INNSMOUTH

The Terrible Truth About A Sea-Haunted Fishing Town in Lovecraft Country

"Haow'd ye like to be livin' in a taown like this, with everything a-rottin' and' a-dyin', an' boarded-up monsters crawlin' an' bleatin' an' barkin' an' hoppin' araoun' black cellars an' attics every way ye turn? Hey? Haow'd ye like to hear the haowlin' night arter night from the churches an Order o' Dagon Hall, an' known what's doin' part o' the haowlin? Haow'd ye like to hear what comes from that awful reef every May-Eve an' Hallowmass? Hey?... Wal, Sir, let me tell ye that ain's the wust!... Yew want to know what the reel horror is, hey? Wal, it's this -- it ain't what them fish-devils hez done, but what they're a-goin' to do!"
-- The warning of Zadok Allen in "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H.P. Lovecraft

An Accursed Community

Innsmouth was once a prosperous trading town located on the north coast of Massachusetts. Early in the 19th century her great sailing ships traveled the world in search of trade and treasure.

A series of mishaps brought the town to the brink of financial ruin, but it was saved when Captain Obed Marsh discovered a secret source of gold amond the islands of the South Pacific. Prosperity returned to Innsmouth, but only for a short time. The gold held a price that now, nearly a century later, has left the town a decaying hulk, its diseased citizenry mere shambling parodies of what were once people. Shunned by its neighbors, Innsmouth slowly dies.

Some whisper that old Obed Marsh made a pact with the Devil. Others know the truth: the town itself has sold its soul, bringing down a curse and forever sealing its doom.

Shunned Innsmouth

ESCAPE FROM INNSMOUTH is based on H.P. Lovecraft's popular "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," a haunting tale of a nearly forgotten town cursed by a blasphemous pact. ESCAPE FROM INNSMOUTH contains pertinent information about the town and its residents, maps of important locations, and two lengthy scenarios. A 17x22 inch players' map is also included.

2nd Edition Front Cover Text

1920s

Second Edition, Expanded & Revised

The Classic Sourcebook Revised and Expanded With Two New Adventures Set In Decadent Innsmouth

2nd Edition Back Cover Text

ESCAPE FROM INNSMOUTH

A century ago Innsmouth was a thriving community on the Massachusetts coast. Then a shadow fell over Innsmouth. There were whispered rumors of heathen religions and blasphemous pacts. Now Innsmouth lies rotting, its harbor choked with sand, the town itself nearly engulfed by salt marshes. Outsiders shun Innsmouth and its sullen, deformed inhabitants. But the secret is still there. Hiding. Festering. Growing. Waiting.

This book recreates H. P. Lovecraft’s most haunted locale for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game. Herein are described all of the terrible places, brooding characters, evil tomes, and monstrous inhabitants of shadowed Innsmouth. This is a revised, second edition, containing all of the original source material and maps, with corrections. Included for the first time in this edition are an introductory Innsmouth scenario and an entirely new section for the acclaimed 'Raid on Innsmouth' adventure.

Exploring Lovecraft Country

<also includes an advertisement for Chaosium's line of Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying supplements>

<also includes an advertisement for Chaosium's "Mythos" Collectible Card Game>

Comments / Trivia

The mega-scenario "Raid on Innsmouth" concerns 'Project Covenant' - the operation that led to the formation of Delta Green. In this scenario Investigators rub shoulders with J Edgar Hoover.

Chaosium later published a further collection of Innsmouth-based scenario, Before the Fall, all set prior to the government raid. This somewhat complements this volume which, while presenting the setting as a generic locale in which to base scenarios, has a major focus on the desctruction of the town (via the "Raid on Innsmouth" scenario which takes up a significant part of the book).

This book is dedicated by Keith Herber to "Willie D. Warren -- 'Steel Wheel', 'The Detroit Hit Man' -- who taught me all about life, the blues, and human dignity -- and almost without saying a word."

Links

• Review by Darren MacLennan on RPG.net
• Review by Gilbert Pili on RPG.net
• Review by Eric Dodd on RPGGeek.com

Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only

Players should not read any further.

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: Many sites in and around Innsmouth (including Devil's Reef and Y'ha-nthlei), Arkham, Danvers, Newburyport, Dunwich, French Polynesia, China, Falcon Point

Creatures: Deep Ones, Dagon, Hydra, Servitor of the Outer Gods, Cthulhu, Shoggoths

People: Marsh Dynasty, Lang-Fu, Asenath Waite, Robert Olmstead, Zadok Allen

Tomes and Artifacts: R'lyeh Text, Ponape Scripture, Pnakotic Manuscripts, The Lore of the Abyss, Thaumaturgical Prodigies in the New England Canaan, Monstres and Their Kynde, Eltdown Shards

Gazeteer New Rules

New Spells: Call Fish, Command Shark, Command Porpoise, Alter Weather, Cause Disease, Lobster Charm, Breath of the Deeps, Wave of Oblivion (Variant), The Siren's Song, Gate of Change (Optional variant of normal Gate spell)

New Creatures: Deep One Hybrids, Deep One Thing, Carnivorous Crustaceans, Polyp

Comment here to Keepers about this book. Comments on specific Scenarios and Campaigns go on their respective pages. Keep DISCUSSION on the talk page.