Customer Reviews

The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep (Call of Cthulhu Role Playing Game Series)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Masks is an adventure taking place in 1926-27 (game time of 1yr exactly). This is perhaps the most comprehensive and compelling storyline I have ever seen in a role-playing product. The story starts as a simple murder investigation, and deepens more and more until players are knee-deep in trouble, are chased by secret cults and have the chance to uncover terrible mysteries of forgotten civilizations. A great deal of emphasis has been given in historical accuracy and depth of atmosphere, so in every chapter (New York, London, Cairo, Kenya, Ausralia, Shanghai) you get loads of info as to how the region was at that era, political situation, important people-factions etc. Various elements of the Cthulhu mythos and some very well-known Lovecraft novel elements and plots are incorporated into the book. Loads of carefully prepared handouts await the players, as they are about to embark in the journey of a lifetime. A must have! There is absolutely no negative - this adventure, once carefully prepared, is the perfect campaign for experienced storytellers.

Many Call of Cthulhu gamers consider MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP to be the ultimate Cthulhu product. You might ask what is so great about MASKS? Well, there are many reasons to like MASKS; it's versatile, non-linear, covers many interesting locations, has tons of clues and sleuthing to do, and from the Keeper's perspective, it has maps, handouts, spare cultists, monsters, traps, and side-adventures. Something for everyone! Plus, you get to fight just about everyone in the entire world.

MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP started out as a boxed set, with stapled booklets for each location you visit. And there are a lot: New York, London, Cairo, Kenya, and Hong Kong/Shanghai. MASKS was reprinted as a softcover later, and then re-reprinted in the late 90's as THE COMPLETE MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP - in this version, you also get the Australia chapter, which was cut from the original box and appeared in TERROR AUSTRALIS. I'm not so keen on the Australia chapter; it seems unnecessary and doesn't add to the plot, but I'm glad it's in my copy. That makes it COMPLETE!

The non-linearity is great, too. So, you want to go to London from New York? Sure, you could also go to Cairo instead. Or Shanghai if you desire. The players decide, and the order doesn't realy matter. That is, how you play each chapter probably depends on what you already know, but there isn't a sequence that has to be followed. That might worry a lot of gaming groups, so the Keeper needs to know whether his group needs strong clues to point the direction or whether they would enjoy exploring at their own pace.

You see, there are a lot of clues. The COMPLETE MASKS helps you (the Keeper, not the player) by listing all the clues for a region at the beginning, why you would be pointed in that direction, and where they lead to. Whoo, that's very helpful. You'll have to read this book a few times before you see how all the clues fit together. You don't need all of the clues either; many are redundant, or lead to side adventures, or to elements of the main plot that aren't essential.

Speaking of side plots, just to really mix things up, each chapter has a diversion or two that investigators can get sidetracked on. The side adventures in London are the best, and there is an hilarious one in Shanghai, but everywhere they give the players the option of false leads; not every clue is valuable and some should be ignored. On the other hand, some subplots that seem inconsequential can offer up some serious clueage (is that a word?) for the next stage.

Did I mention that you can fight a lot of cultists? At the beginning, anyway. By the end, we're talking thousands of armed loonies cheering on their dark lords. By the final showdown, you may possibly even have an army and a navy to help (good luck with that, by the way). Of course, you may decide that discretion is the better part of valor and hide in the shadows instead of gunslinging the cultist ceremonies. And heaven help you if you open your eyes and watch. Have you ever watched your electric meter while the AC is on? yeah, that's what your sanity score is like, only in reverse.

From the Keeper's point of view, MASKS has a lot of helpful elements. Besides the previously mentioned clue cross-check at the beginning of each chapter, there are also stats for everything. And if you need some extra cultists, there are extras rolled up. Spare monsters? They're there too. Some Outer Gods to perform perverse and blasphemous rites? They even have names and special powers. Maps, clues, handouts, the works; it's all there. Of course, your real task is coordinating investigators as they run clues to the ground. Heck, you might even want to have a separate group for each chapter, and the survivors report back to HQ. Just a thought.

Well, MASKS should provide both players and keepers with plenty of excitement and adventure. Plenty of horror too. Some images just keep coming to mind - like the exploding pregnant woman infested with the spawn of Nyarlathotep. Ehhhh... Good time for that lobotomy I keep putting off. Good luck saving the world!

This is an amazing adventure in which you travel all over the globe in search of the lost carslyle expidition. An amazing adventure. It took 7 people, the storyteller, over 20 charecters and total of over 100 hours to play. An amazing adventure that hase every thing from wild goose chases to nyarlathotep the black pharoh himself. I would give it 7 stars if I could.

Larry DiTillio's epic Call of Cthulhu campaign is the best scenario I have come across in my nearly 20 years of gaming. It pits 1920's investigators against the machinations of Nyralathotep in a truly worldwide campaign. What stands foremost in my mind is the manner in which he was able to evoke horror even among the most jaded and experienced investigators. It's an epic campaign and should last many nights of play. Be forewarned that this requires a very well-organized keeper because of the number of clues and red herrings strewn about. It's a game that suits both roleplaying and power gamers.

2008 review: This is quite simply one of the best campaigns ever written, not just for Cthulhu, but for any roleplaying system. I cannot recommend it highly enough. Suspense, terror, violence and mind-bending horrors, it's all here, and it takes a well-prepared Keeper (or GM) to make it flow smoothly. I actually adapted it to d20 for our campaign, and if i were to do it again i would probably use one of the new Shadows of Cthulhu or Trail of Cthulhu instead of the standard BRP rules.

This game is a somewhat stereotypical example of what Call of Cthulhu should be. That's as good of a compliment as can be said for any Cthulhu supplement. It has everything, international cult rings, undeniably pulp technology, monsters and cultists at every turn, red herrings, exciting locales, side quests, and a really high rate of kills and sanity loss!

It's lengthy, and linear. If you're not used to Cthulhu- that will sound like a bad thing, but that's rpretty much the norm. The length is great because it sets up A LOT of nights of adventuring and after the book is completed you'll be set to contijue fighting the minions of Nyarlahotep.

Only downside is the price, but it will provide a lot of entertaining nights.

My friends and I sat down to play this as our first introduction to Call Of Cthulhu. I had read it and damn did it look cool. Well we set about playing and it took us far too long to get to anything interesting. The way the adventures are put together require at least three sessions, and we play 8-10 hour sessions, to find the one clue that leads to one short scene of action.

Now we are not hack and slash gamers by any means, we just like a little bit of excitement. The majority of this colosal campaign is legwork, interviews and chasing clues. Even as things really start to come to a head as an evil cult threatens to launch a nuclear weapon to open a rift in space. It's just more boring legwork.

My advice is to not even bother with this campaign unless you want to put alot of work into rearranging the clues and legwork and like to add ALOT of perriphrial excitement. Where is the dark horror and insanity if the investigators never fear for their life or their sanity. I mean COME ON!

Now I know what you're thinking. 'If it [was] so bad, why 2 stars?' Well the answer is simple. The story is awesome and very well thought out, except maybe the missile at the end, an ICBM in 1926, I don't think so. The story warrants 2 stars but it is so horribly put together that it does not deserve any more than that.

As a plus if you are the kind of person who far favors legwork and investigation to action than this is definately the product for you. I personaly prefer a good mix of the two which is the way I write adventures and campaigns.

If you want a good campaign module for Call Of Cthulhu I recomend Nocturnum by Fantasy Flight Games. Granted the campaign is written for the d20 version and is by default a modern setting it is easily converted to regular rules and any other timeline.