Cthulhian Renaissance

You never know when you're going to hit a golden age until one lands right on top of you.

For several years, the Call of Cthulhu game has been a bit moribund in the adventures department. Chaosium, its publisher, has been quietly steaming along, primarily with upgrades of various classic adventures (some of them brilliant), but with only a few new things in print, and some of those primarily little more than translations from a more vibrant German scene.

Then, in the past few months, there has been a veritable onslaught of Cthulhiana.

Start off with Super Genius Games, which has been publishing short, snappy adventures for the game. "Murder of Crows" and "The Doom from Below", for the 1920s, by the brilliant Stan! and "Midnight Harvest" by Owen Stephens both are true to the classic intent of the game.

And in referring to classic, there's "New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley", set in the heart of Lovecraft country, from Miskatonic River Press. I have not read it (someone else will be running the adventures, but I did pick up a copy. The sad and untimely passing of the company's president and star writer/editor, Cthulhian veteran Keith Herber, has put future releases in doubt. So if you see it, pick it up.

Pagan Publishing arrives with "Mysteries of Mesoamerica", a sourcebook on the Mayans, Aztecs, Toltecs, and other peoples of central america, with four adventures spanning twenty years.

And on a pulpier side, Goodman Games has launched its "Age of Cthulhu" line with "Death in Luxor" by Harley Stroh, which deals with elder corruption in Cairo. And with luck, we may even see the long-awaited "Pulp Cthulhu" from Chaosium itself.

What can be said? It looks like the stars finally came right.

More later,