Beyond the Mountains of Madness: An Epic Campaign and Sourcebook (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, #2380) [Hardcover]

Charles Engan (Author), Janyce Engan (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 437 pages
• Publisher: Chaosium (2006)
• Language: English
• ASIN: B003V5ECGO
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,762,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best RPG supplement in recent history, October 18, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Beyond the Mountains of Madness: An Epic Campaign and Sourcebook (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, #2380) (Paperback)

This adventure, a brilliant follow-on to Lovecraft's "At The Mountains Of Madness", totally immerses the players in the tense drama of an Antarctic expedition. Don't be put off by its sheer size--it's a combination of a campaign-length single adventure and a well-researched Antarctic sourcebook. Lots of player handouts and extremely helpful keeper material, including a detailed timeline of all the multiple plot lines, make this book a standout. It truly captures the essence of Lovecraft's great novella.

If your keeper can't afford it, chip in and buy it for him. You won't regret it. The Antarctic Explorer pack is also nice, but not necessary for playing.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And Epic is the Word..., January 31, 2001

By 

Terence Chua (Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Mountains of Madness: An Epic Campaign and Sourcebook (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, #2380) (Paperback)

They're not kidding - weighing it at some 440 pages, this monster of a campaign book is so huge, to call it a "campaign" somehow seems to be an understatement. Yet, it's not so much a campaign - that is, a series of connected scenarios - than one huge epic adventure with a definite start, middle and end.

The story brings the players from 1930s New York to New Zealand to Antarctica and finally to uncover the tragic fate of the Miskatonic University Expedition that preceded them, chronicled in Lovecraft's short novel "At The Mountains of Madness". Along the way, they will encounter murder, mayhem, sabotage, the lost chapter of Edgar Allan Poe's "Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym" and at last, the ice-bound city of the Elder Things where a secret beyond imagining lurks.

The sheer amount of work that has been put into this is amazing. Everything to prepare you for an Antarctic expedition from shipping manifests to equipment is detailed - and even made part of the adventure. The supernatural element of this adventure is surprisingly minimal for a Cthulhu tale, but it is no less suspenseful or terrifying to face up to madness and thuggery. At the end of the day, the Elder Things are alien creatures more akin to extraterrestials than ghosts. Think of John Carpenter's "The Thing" and you'll start to get a feeling of what I'm driving at.

This is not a book or a campaign to be undertaken lightly - it will take a lot of hard work from both Keepers and players to make it work. On the down side, the adventure tends to be a little linear and assumes too many things to make the plot work. However, I literally could not put it down - heavy as it was - it was also a compelling read just for the sheer amount of *story* alone. As a high water mark for would-be game designers to read and emulate, it is in a class of its own. Well worth the price, and the read.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How good is it?, March 31, 2000

By 

Graham Wills (Naperville, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Beyond the Mountains of Madness: An Epic Campaign and Sourcebook (Call of Cthulhu Horror Roleplaying, #2380) (Paperback)

The simple answer is that it is very, very good. For a work ofthis length to be able to grab the attention of a seasoned roleplayercontinuously while reading it; for the text to be enjoyable purely as a solitaire reading experience; for the impressive feeling that, big as it is, the authors picked and chose what went in and really felt they needed more space; that is in itself a triumph. The style is immensely readable, the art consistent and enjoyable, the plot exciting and yet manageable, the layout and typography clean and attractive. It is worth buying even if you never intend playing it.

But you should play it. I have *almost* finished the campaign and it's been a nine-month blast!