Masks of Nyarlathotep
Call of Cthulu Module

Game Review

Review by Aaron Allston


by Larry DiTillion with Lynn Willis
Chaosism, Inc.
Released: Dec 1984
Catalog No: 2307-X
Price: $18
Complexity: Experienced
Solitaire: None
****

"Horror Strikes New York, London, Cairo, Nairobi, Shanghai," says the box-end. It's true. In Masks of Nyarlathotep, playercharacters (PCs) from the Call of Cthulhu game have to run amok all over the world, gathering clues and meddling once again with primordial horrors who can rend the world. Sounds fun, doesn't it?

Chaosium has decided to go component crazy with Mask of Nyarlathotep. Let's look at the damage.

In the usual Chaosium box, we're given the usual Chaosium "What's in this Box?" sheet (which typically contains a components listing and design credits, and in this case also has the table of contents for the whole project), a four-page introductory booklet, 16page New York booklet, 28-page London booklet, 32-page Cairo booklet, 20- page Kenya booklet, 32-page Shanghai booklet, 18-page Handouts booklet containing cut-apart clues to hand out to the players, and a sheet of miscellaneous cut- apart handouts.

In short, we have a separate booklet for each stage of the adventure, all the introductory and organizational material, and cut-apart clues to scatter throughout the playing time. My favorite is a cut-apart matchbook that you assemble and toss out at an opportune time.

So, the effect when you open the box is somewhat staggering. In the past, I've chided companies for being excessive when they overcomplicate a game's components - after all, the more components, the higher the price-but in this case I'll forebear; we still have in excess of $18 worth of play out of this box.

What's Masks of Nyarlathotep, all about? Well, it's rather like a previous Call of Cthulhu adventure, namely The Fungi Erom Yuggoth, in that it's a campaign-sized adventure which sends the characters all over the world on a mission to foil the latest plans of the gray crawlies.

In Masks, author Larry DiTillio gives us an encounter in New York, which sets out a variety of clues for the player -characters (PCs) to follow. The clues lead them to all the other cities mentioned, in no particular order.

Masks, as I've mentioned, really is a campaign-sized adventure. it's a campaign in the true sense of the word, an ongoing campaign by your characters against the hideous plan of -- no, that would be telling. It is enough to say that Masks can last you an entire season of playing, longer if you're not a frequently convening group, and that all the adventures in the package are pretty good. There's a whole lot of SAN loss going on, a lot of creepy scenes, opportunities for use of a remarkable number of skills, and it really feels true to the genre. DiTillio has done a good job.

Problems? There are a few. The complexity of this intricate situation requires that the PCs keep track of a lot of names and information. I can't imagine that all players want their campaigns to be dominated by a single storyline for so many episodes. As with almost all Call of Cthulhu scenarios, there's very little material you can use once the adventures are over. And, of course, the price tag is sticky; most role-playing games currently marketed don't cost $18.

Still in all, DiTillio and Chaosium have put together an impressive work. It's a dangerous, involved set of adventures and a very commendable effort.

I'll recommend Masks of Nyarlathotep to any Call of Cthulhu player, and to any player of Daredevils, justice, Inc., or Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes who likes Lovecraftian horror and doesn't mind doing the necessary conversions.

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© Copyright 1985 by Dana Lombardy.
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