Massachusetts 1920s – Call of Cthulhu 7e – Campaign Index

[A lovely cheesecake created by two of my players]

Since it’s Halloween I thought it appropriate to post (finally!) the index for my 7th edition Call of Cthulhu campaign.

The campaign actually has been on hiatus for several months now. I’m not entirely sure when I’ll return to it, as I’m focused more on my Middle-earth campaign right now, and a friend is planning on running the Laundry RPG soon. But since the Cthulhu campaign did go quite well (only one character death!) and was a lot of fun, it would be a pity if I didn’t finish the scenario summaries and post links to everything related to it on this blog.

So here is the index (to be updated when I post the final summaries)…

7th Edition (‘non-campaign’) posts:

·       Some initial impressions of the 7^th edition of Call of Cthulhu.

·       I ran the ‘one-shot’ adventure ‘Missed Dues’ at the 2016 Loz Con.

The Investigators:

• Bertrand Smyth. Lecturer in Archaeology. Originally from London.

o       Visiting lecturer at Harvard University (1922-23); permanent lecturer at Miskatonic University (1923+).

o       Specializes in Ancient Greece.

o       A veteran of the Great War.

o       Cousin of Stephen Knott (property-owner and collector of rare artefacts).

o       A bit of a ‘fuddy-duddy’ (dresses in an unstylish Edwardian manner).

• Max Brewster. Private Investigator. Bostonian (originally from Lowell MA).

o       A forty-ish, slightly greasy, gumshoe.

o       A specialist in dodgy divorce cases.

o       Plenty of street smarts, but little formal education.

• Helen Tilton. Freelance photographer and journalist.

o       Originally from Toronto.

o       Sometimes works for the Boston Globe.

o       Has Marxist sympathies.

• Kellen Tilton. Football coach at Miskatonic University.

o       Originally from Toronto.

o       Brother of Helen.

o       A veteran of the Great War.

The Massachusetts scenarios:

Except for the first one (which is a classic that has been around since the beginning of CoC), all of the adventures that I ran for this campaign are new for the 7th edition. After the each summary I provide some general reflections on the adventure.

·       The Haunting (September 1922).

·       Dead Light (late November 1922).

·       Blackwater Creek (September 1923). [Summary coming soon.]

·       Crimson Letters (October 1924). [Summary coming soon-ish.]

Happy Halloween!

Dead Light (Call of Cthulhu adventure summary)

As I've mentioned before here, I've been running a sporadic Call of Cthulhu 7th edition campaign since Halloween 2014. Most of the adventures I've run have been new ones written for the 7th edition version of CoC (the only exception is "The Haunting"). One of these adventures is Dead Light. Below is my brief summary of that adventure, along with some impressions of it.

Dead Light (Massachusetts, late November 1922).

Investigators:
- Bertrand Smyth (professor)
- Max Brewster (private investigator)
- Helen Tilton (photo journalist).
(More information available here.)

Summary (warning: spoilers!)

Pleased with their job dealing with the Corbitt house, Stephen Knott hires the investigators again. In addition to owning and managing several properties within Massachusetts, Knott is a collector of rare artefacts and eldritch texts. He has learned of an unusual item owned by a Dr. Godfrey Webb of Greenapple Acre cottage (located in a rural part of Massachusetts). After some correspondence with Webb, Knott has arranged to purchase this item, and wishes the investigators to pick it up for him and return it to Boston. He gives the investigators a cheque for $1000 for the item, about which he seems to know suspiciously little.

The investigators drive to Bolton where they have dinner. A terrible storm is brewing, but they decide to press on. Continuing on their way, their car hits a woman who runs suddenly out onto the road. She seems dazed but not seriously hurt, and mumbles that her name is 'Emelia'. The investigators take her to a nearby diner. While there, the electricity goes out. The diner subsequently is attacked by … an eldritch ‘floating light’! An elderly woman is killed by the light – she is consumed from within by strange and malevolent otherworldly energies. Everyone is terrified, and the storm becomes even worse.

Eventually Amelia revives somewhat, and explains that she is Dr. Webb’s niece. She and her uncle and were robbed earlier that evening at Greenapple Acre cottage. In the process of the robbery, however, the eldritch light attacked. Terrified, Amelia fled, only to later be hit by the investigator’s car. Mary Laker, who works at the diner, is questioned by Helen at this time, and confesses that she knows about the robbers. Despite the storm, the investigators, along with Amelia and Mary, proceed to the cottage.

While at the cottage, the body of Dr. Webb is discovered. Shocked, Helen goes temporarily mad, and cannot see. Bertrand and Max rummage through Dr. Webb’s notes, and figure out that Webb has been summoning the ‘dead light’ for decades in order to eliminate ‘undesirable’ persons for clients. Horrified, they infer that Webb had summoned the dead light when the robbers invaded the house.

The dead light creature returns, and consumes Mary. Fortunately, Bertrand and Max figure out how to defeat the creature from Dr. Webb’s notes. A ritual captures the dead light, and the party spends the rest of the night at the cottage. Helen’s sight returns, and the investigators concoct a story for the police in Bolton (something involving ‘ball lightning’). Amelia (now owner of the cottage) is placed in therapy. The artefact that Knott sought to purchase has been destroyed.

Impressions:

This is the only scenario in this campaign that my group completed in a single evening (our sessions typically are 3-4 hours long). This was a good thing. Not because the adventure is bad -- I think it's quite good -- but because it is a 'survival horror' scenario, and I doubt that its intensity could've have been resurrected effectively after a significant break in play.

As my summary indicates, Dead Light is somewhat different from most CoC scenarios. The investigators are fighting against a hostile enemy under dire conditions. The 'clock is ticking,' so to speak, against them. Moreover, they are thrust into this dangerous situation unexpectedly, and with little prospect of immediate escape (as most of the roads and telephone lines are down thanks to the storm). So it likely will offer a real change of pace for most groups. The sense of relief that my players had at the end of the session was palpable.

(I should mention that I modified the 'solution' to dealing with the dead light somewhat [I can't remember precisely how, as I ran it over a year ago]. This is because I found the options offered in the text to be too difficult for my group: two of the three players were new to RPGs, having only played one previous CoC scenario so far. Perhaps I was being too nice, but the scenario seemed adequately deadly and scary nonetheless.)

The scenario would work well as either a 'one short' or an 'introductory adventure.' As an introductory adventure, the Keeper will need to come up with some reason for the characters to be travelling together, but once that is sorted, the events will force them to work together and to deal with a supernatural menace, thus giving them a connection for later scenarios. For my group, I had to contrive a way to make it follow from the previous scenario ("The Haunting"), but this was easy to do.

Overall, I think this is a fun 'single-session' adventure, and am happy to give it 8/10.

The Haunting (Call of Cthulhu adventure summary)

Since October 2014, I've been running a (very) sporadic Call of Cthulhu 7th edition campaign. Most of the adventures I've run have been new ones written for the 7th edition. The one exception is "The Haunting," which of course dates back to the beginning of Call of Cthulhu. Since "The Haunting" was included with the "quick start" rules for 7th edition, I started with it. Below is my brief summary of that adventure. (I will post summaries and impressions of the other adventures in the near future.)

The Setting:

1920s Massachusetts (Boston and Arkham), i.e., "Lovecraft County."

The Investigators:


Helen Tilton. Freelance photographer and journalist.
- Originally from Toronto.
- Sometimes works for the Boston Globe.
- Has Marxist sympathies.


Bertrand Smyth. Lecturer in Archaeology. Originally from London.
- Visiting lecturer at Harvard University (1922-23).
- Specializes in Ancient Greece.
- A veteran of the Great War.
- Cousin of Stephen Knott (property-owner and collector of rare artifacts).
- A bit of a ‘fuddy-duddy’ (dresses in an unstylish Edwardian manner).


Max Brewster. Private Investigator. Bostonian (originally from Lowell MA).
- A forty-ish, slightly greasy, gumshoe.
- A specialist in dodgy divorce cases.
- Plenty of street smarts, but little formal education.

The Scenario: The Haunting (September 1922).
[Warning: Spoilers below!]

Stephen Knott – cousin of Bertrand Smyth and owner of several Boston properties (‘Knott Properties’) – hires Max Brewster to investigate the ‘Corbitt house’. Knott has had trouble selling the house because of rumours that it is ‘haunted.’ Helen becomes involved because she knows of the house’s reputation and thinks that there may be a story worth pursuing. Bertrand agrees to assist in the investigation as a favour to his cousin. After some preliminary research the party investigates the house and discovers that it is indeed haunted. Poor Bertrand is tossed out of a second-story window by an animated cot, and later is attacked by a floating knife. Battered and frightened, the investigators leave the house.

Before returning to the house, in the course of their investigations, the party explores the ruins of the ‘Chapel of Contemplation.’ They come across some strange symbols amongst those ruins – symbols that look to have been recently painted. The symbols are of three Y’s arranged in a triangle, with a staring eye in the centre. 

A previously hidden basement also is discovered. There the investigators locate a moldy journal and an ancient tome (the tome later is identified by Bertrand to be the Liber Ivonis). Employing her connections with the Boston police department, Helen subsequently discovers that the church had been subject to a secret police raid years ago because of alleged unsavoury ‘cultish’ activities. The ‘pastor’ of the church, Michael Thomas, was arrested and sentenced to 40 years in prison on five counts of second-degree murder. However, he escaped from prison in 1917 and remains at large.

Eventually the investigators discover a hidden crypt beneath the Corbitt house, and encounter the undead sorcerer Walter Corbitt. It seems that it was Corbitt who had been causing all of the mysterious difficulties within the house since his ‘death’ in 1866 (including the deaths and mental illnesses of the house’s occupants over the past several decades, most recently the Macario family). After a tense struggle, the investigators defeat Corbitt, and the vile sorcerer’s body dissipates into dust. The investigators decide not to mention Corbitt’s existence to anyone else, including Stephen Knott. 

After their victory over Corbitt, the investigators resume their old lives as best they can, but remain in touch because of their shared experience (which they cannot discuss with anyone else). Bertrand studies the Libor Invonis and learns some things that mankind was not meant to know…

Thoughts on the scenario:

This is a solid adventure that (obviously) has stood the test of time. The players were appropriately creeped out as their investigators learned more about the Corbitt manor and the Chapel of Contemplation. The final encounter was quite tense, with Corbitt taking control of Helen and almost killing poor Max! 

One weakness with the scenario is that not much is provided in the text in terms of advice for bringing the investigators together and motivating them to work for Stephen Knott. In this respect, I think that "The Edge of Darkness" is a better beginning adventure, as it provides a compelling reason for the investigators to work together and go on the mission in question (it also provides more structure for players unfamiliar with role-playing games).

That criticism aside, though, we all enjoyed this adventure. It was a good way to test out the 7e rules. I would give it 8/10.