Hello and Welcome to Roll4Sanity where we become mythos investigators in the world of ‘Call of Cthulhu.’ Over the next few blog entries we’re going to take a look at all the time periods that have given rise to a Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition game supplement. This month we’ll be looking at the era known as Cthulhu Dark Ages set between 950 to 1050 before the common era. Look out for the YouTube video and a podcast episode too!
Anglo-Saxon England?
I have to admit when you first look at this time period in which the supplement is set, you may think there is nothing to investigate. There is no newspaper for a mythos investigator to read about odd occurrences, no library to do any research about a case and at the end that case no mental health care to help them get over the sanity wrecking encounters they have had. Instead, there will be mud, rain and superstition. And that’s where the fun begins! Historians gave the time period the name Dark Ages as it was commonly believed this was stagnate time of cultural development when compared the advanced practice of the now fallen roman empire. This is an unruly time full of mystery and suspense that will give rise to myths and legends that future investigator will read about in history book. This is the time when manuscripts such as the Necronomicon where being written.
Here be monsters
In such a time of myth and legend there are real monster of lore to be found from Dragons to mythos goblins to undead wights all that will need heroes of saga to discover the danger they pose and the heroic effort they went to in order to vanquish their foe! But hang on, can’t we just go and play (insert generic fantasy role-playing game here)? Sure, but the difference here is the story that makes up the tale that will become folk lore. Being a little unkind here, Will it be “Verily they did go forth and do 20 points of damage, got some gold and gained 400xp” or will it be “Come gather round and I tell you the tale of the ordinary blacksmith who solved the mystery of the grey cave? On a winters night when the wind is just right you can hear his haunted screams carry across from mountains where he now hides from the nightmares he saw.
A simpler kind of investigator
Character creation in Cthulhu Dark Ages has a novel extra step in the process with a roll on the life events table just after you roll for your attributes. I think there are as many positive ones as there are negative ones and they can really help you with your back story. Take the life event Mauled by a Bear – 5 APP Did your character live in the woods to encounter the bear? Is this a claw scar across your face that make you look bad ass in combat? This may shape your choice of occupation to be a Fisher and hand to fight a bear for that Salmon you caught. Cthulhu Dark Ages has a normal set of occupations well researched for the time period with a good selection of travelling folk, religious servants and those in militia of some sort. Comparable to Classic 1920s age Call of Cthulhu occupation of Trading folks, Academics and Security. To round off your character there are updated backstory tables to help you with era appropriate Ideologies/Beliefs etc. And of course, era appropriate skill descriptions such as Medicine because there are no schools for Physicians just yet!
Cthulhu Dark Ages is a lot of fun to play as there is very little that can’t be included in a game. A town where everyone drowns when the river floods? A bit unbelievable for the Classic 1920s ear but in the dark ages, this could be very possible! A band of Vikings comes to plunder an old Roman temple? That’s the adventure behind the excelled Miskatonic Repository adventure Branches of Bone by Michael Reid. Affiliate link below. The Characters / Investigators of Cthulhu Dark Ages add to the fun of role-playing Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition. There is still a mystery to investigate, skills to be used and mythos monster that can kill you in a strike so it’s still best to run away. Add to that the rumours of whispers in the night that turn out to be occult spirit and the ritual in the stone circles that you must disrupt and you will soon find yourself at the heart of an adventure that will be worthy of a folk song to be sung in the centuries to come.