Our Towns
A few years ago Chaosium put out a series of RPG supplements set in the haunted fictional towns of Lovecraft Country. The first three books included updated versions of H. P. Lovecraft's Arkham (PDF), H. P. Lovecraft's Dunwich (PDF), and H. P. Lovecraft's Kingsport all connected along an isolated road. These detailed town settings can still be used by enterprising GMs today, whether they run games uses Call of Cthulhu or Dungeons & Dragons.While out of print, the supplements can be found used sometimes for under $50 each. The first three books in the series had dual stats for Call of Cthulhu 6E and Call of Cthulhu D20 and each one came with a town map and a short story by H.P Lovecraft. This combination of rule options, detailed setting information, and fiction presents many options for enterprising GMs.
- H. P. Lovecraft's Arkham: This city would serve PCs well as a base of operations. It is filled with locations including the infamous Miskatonic University, NPCs, monsters, and has four adventures for PCs including one for brand new investigators. In addition to the city map, the book also has a newspaper prop handout.
- H. P. Lovecraft's Dunwich: About sixty miles west of Arkham is the village of Dunwich and is home to the cursed Whateley family. Two adventures are included and the village is good for low level investigators, perhaps venturing forth from Arkham after a harrowing adventure or two.
- H. P. Lovecraft's Kingsport: Only a couple of miles south of Arkham is haunted Kingsport. Two short stories and four adventures detail remnants of an ancient witch-cult, unspeakable crawling things beneath Central Hill, and terrors lurking in the fog off Jersey Reef, preying on both fishermen and unsuspecting tourists alike. Adventures support low level play as well.
Using These Setting Books
- Use with Call of Cthulhu 7E and Dungeons & Dragons 2024: These setting books still work with the newest version of Call of Cthulhu and Dungeons & Dragons. An updated version of Call of Cthulhu: Arkham is available, but without D20 rules. The advantage here is the GM has access to two in print sets of rules and can use the settings books for both. One way to introduce CoC to D&D players would be introducing them to Lovecraft Country, perhaps through a gate or Ravenloft like fog.
- Use with Call of Cthulhu 6E and Call of Cthulhu D20: Another option is to run the settings with the original rulesets. Call of Cthulhu 6E is available used for less than $15 and Call of Cthulhu D20 can be bought used for around $40. CoC D20 leans heavily into a simplified D&D 3.5 vibe. Many of the adventures in the supplements are for low levels, so these towns are a great place to run a new campaign.
- Use with Amazing Adventures: Amazing Adventures is a perfect modern ruleset to use with Lovecraft Country. Amazing Adventures is designed for modern adventures but is D20 based. The rules are usable with little conversion and picking up the Call of Cthulhu D20 rulebook provides a GM with more monsters and magic items to use as well.
- Use with Other RPGs: I ran Lovecraft Country mixed with Stephen King’s Jerusalem’s Lot from Night Shift with Dungeons & Dragon 4E. It sounds weird, but with all the teleporting and push and pulling in 4E it really worked with time and space getting bent and moved and otherworldly horrors showing up to terrorize a group of colonies. You just need the setting material for inspiration. The maps and short stories really help as well to get a solid view of the setting and a feel for the expected style and tone of the campaign.
Watch Your Step!
Lovecraft Country is a haunted place that is good to get to know. Like Middle-earth, the Hyborian Age, and Barsoom it informs and soaks into many RPG campaigns, whether horror based or not. The fact that Arkham is back in print again points to the longevity and usefulness of this setting. Just be careful which lane you turn down or what glen you wander into. You might wander farther than unexpected and find things man was not meant to find.Charlie is a participant in the Noble Knight Affiliate Program and the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, both of which are affiliate programs that provide a means for participants to earn money by advertising and linking to Noble Knight Games and DriveThruRPG respectively. Charlie on Facebook. Posts and articles posted here by others do not reflect the views of Charlie Dunwoody. If you like the articles at EN World please consider supporting the Patreon.
