H.P. Lovecraft's Kingsport: City in the Mists (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying, 8804) [Paperback]

Kevin Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2003 | Series: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying, 8804 (Book 8804)

KINGSPORT is a coastal town located a morning's stroll from Arkham. Draped in mists and fog, it is home to artists and fishermen, sailors and dreamers. Here dreams and reality mingle to an unsettling degree.

Some find solace in such dreams; others find only terror and death. Charles Baxter's dreams drove him to despair. He took his own life, throwing himself into the sea. The only clues to his demise: a water-soaked collection of poems.

Horrors exist in the real world of Kingsport as well, remnants of an ancient witch-cult that once infested the town. Unspeakable things crawl through their burrows beneath Central Hill and lurk in the fog off Jersey Reef, preying on fishermen and unsuspecting tourists alike.

Kingsport's soothing atmosphere and beautiful setting beckons to vacationers. Its perch on the brink of the dream-world inspires artists. Investigators come to Kingsport to find understanding of the dark realms of the Cthulhu Mythos.

H.P. Lovecraft's KINGSPORT describes this fabled Massachusetts town in meticulous detail-its important personalities, buildings, history, and its weird people and places. This book also features a fold-out players' map of the town, a tourist brochure describing places of interest, and three adventures with player aids for added realism and enjoyment.

Includes the H.P. Lovecraft short story "The Strange High House In The Mist" (1931)

New Layout

Fully compatible with both Call of Cthulhu from Chaosium Inc. and Call of Cthulhu d20.

Part of our expanding 1920's Lovecraft Country line.

This book contains material previously published as Kingsport: City in the Mists (1991), long out of print.

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Chaosium; Pap/Map edition (June 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568821670
• ISBN-13: 978-1568821672
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #902,717 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent resource for CofC Keepers, January 30, 2008

By 

Steve Berman "s_berman_8" (Maple Shade, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: H.P. Lovecraft's Kingsport: City in the Mists (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying, 8804) (Paperback)

And the investigators just planned a calm vacation on a shore town...

Kingsport offers a different feel for Call of Cthulhu campaigns. Few other locales are as tied to the Dreamlands as this small town. Not that Kingsport lacks some of the rugose and eldritch horrors of the Mythos, but Keepers can construct scenarious around some of the more fantastical, less ghastly elements that Lovecraft wrote. Chaosium delivers much potential intrigue in detailed descriptions of locals and locales.

The included adventures range from merely good to the brilliant and harrowing, "Dead in the Water," one of the more challenging adventures written for the game. My players still talk about the dangers of the Star Mother years since their encounter - a testament to some ingenious writing and plotting.

A Must-By for any CofC Keeper.

I can say that "Dead in the Water" has a lot of material and looks very intense and draws out many of the unique characteristics of Kingsport.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A well-written and evocative sourcebook, March 18, 2005

By 

Alexander Scott (Birmingham, AL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: H.P. Lovecraft's Kingsport: City in the Mists (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying, 8804) (Paperback)

Lovecraft is, I think, best known for his adjectives. More than Cthulhu, even than the Necronomicon, Lovecraft distinguishes himself by a flood of adjectival description for every object, person, landscape, and sensation. The effect is hypnotic, causing the reader to feel immersed in the actual location. I have always thought of Dunwich's adjectives as grubby, ramshackle, and decayed; for Arkaham, I think of dark, secretive, ancient, and haunted. After reading the Kingsport sourcebook, I have an even stronger feel for that location: quiet, contemplative, shrouded in mystery. The rhythm of wave and tide pacing the flow of time from one generation to the next. The ubiquitous mists sheltering the town from the march of progress, allowing memories to accumulate. It seems like the perfect location for an ancient mystery to resurface.

One excellent aspect of the Lovecraft country books is the inclusion of at least some of Lovecraft's original stories dealing with the town - that is why we're here, after all. Kingsport's stories are "The Strange High House in the Mist" and "The Festival". I would have also liked to see the inlcusion of "The Terrible Old Man" as well as "The White Ship", but that might conceivably be giving away too much.

There follows some short sections on what life is like in Kingsport, the history of the town, and the low-down on the local cult (which I thought was pretty good). Afterwards is the standard breakdown of the locale into neighborhoods/regions. Each section lists any interesting residents, locations, and any useful items or information located there. I find this to be an excellent inspiration for ideas. If you are not completely into one-shots, an excellent long-term idea would be just to explore the town, investigating history and mystery. I know that my gaming group actually likes this sort of thing better than epic quests and whatnot. I also really like the town directory, sorting people, places and things into categories for easy reference with their page number.

About half of the book is scenarios. There is a short section on how to use character dreams during gameplay and then 3 scenarios. I really can't say much about them without being a spoiler. I can say that "Dead in the Water" has a lot of material and looks very intense and draws out many of the unique characteristics of Kingsport.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kingsport, October 5, 2003

By 

RavenHive99 (Applegate, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: H.P. Lovecraft's Kingsport: City in the Mists (Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying, 8804) (Paperback)

I have already the Arkham book, with plans to soon purchase HP Lovecraft's Dunwich, but I have to say I absolutely love HP Lovecraft's Kingsport. It is fll of interesting descriptions, characters, and adventures, as well as a facinating cult that could easily center in a campaign. If there is one thing I do find annoying about this book, it is its size (not very large), but it was still easily worth my money. And one complement I have to give it is that it has finally found a way to drive away those omnipresent ghouls.
All in all, it is a very good book, that portrays a very creepy little town, with enough horror in it to drive more than one investigator mad...