| A Global Campaign to Save Mankind | |
|---|---|
 Cover art by Tom Sullivan | |
| Designers |
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| Publishers | Chaosium |
| Publication |
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| Genres | Horror |
| Systems | Basic Role-Playing |
| ISBN | 1568821743 |
Shadows of Yog-Sothoth is a series of adventures published by Chaosium in 1982 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu .
Shadows of Yog-Sothoth is a campaign of seven linked sequential adventures that are set in various locations around the globe. Investigators are pitted against the Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight, [1] which is attempting to raise the lost city of R'lyeh from the depths of the Pacific Ocean. If they are successful, the Elder God Cthulhu will be released from captivity, destroying humanity in the process. [2]
The book also includes two bonus stand-alone adventures: [3]
Chaosium first published the role-playing system Call of Cthulhu in 1981. Their first set of adventures for the game was Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, [3] a 72-page softcover book written by John Carnahan, John Scott Clegg, Ed Gore, Marc Hutchison, Randy McCall, Sandy Petersen, and Ted Shelton, with illustrations and cover art by Tom Sullivan. [2]
In 2004, Chaosium published an updated second edition of Shadows of Yog-Sothoth for use with the 6th edition of Call of Cthulhu. In addition to the work by the original authors, new material was supplied by Lynn Willis, and the book was illustrated by Andy Hopp, Charlie Krank, Badger McInnes, Mislet Michel, and Tom Sullivan.
In the February 1983 edition of The Space Gamer (No. 60), William A. Barton recommended the book, saying, "Shadows of Yog-Sothoth should provide some exciting CoC play for even the most experienced investigators (despite the odd fact that Yog-Sothoth never makes an appearance, title or not), and I recommend it to all Lovecraftians." [1]
Ian Bailey reviewed The Shadows of Yog-Sothoth for White Dwarf #44, giving it an overall rating of 10 out of 10, and stated that "All in all the Shadows of Yog-Sothoth is an excellent and masterly campaign that demands a high standard of play throughout. It is well presented [...] and carefully managed throughout, and it provides, I believe, the most exciting and satisfying adventure available on the market to date. It might seem expensive but it is worth every penny." [4]
In the January 1984 edition of Dragon (Issue 81), Ken Rolston pointed out that "considerable study and preparation by the GM will be necessary... The tactics of the antagonists are not adequately detailed, and will need to be improvised or planned ahead." Rolston thought the first adventure of the seven was the weakest, but found the rest to be of superior quality. He concluded that "The adventures are unusual and the atmosphere exotic and terrifying. Yog-Sothoth is a classic example of role-playing horror, with awesome monsters, desperate victims, and an atmosphere of mystery and menace. Since it provides enough material for a campaign of several months’ duration, it is an excellent value." [5]
In the June 1990 edition of Dragon (Issue 158), Jim Bambra called Shadows of Yog-Sothoth "good, but it is not as slickly written or plotted as [a later Chaosium publication] Masks of Nyarlathotep "; but he admitted that it contains "excellent scenes" where "horror elements are well presented." Bambra also pointed out that the seven adventures could be de-linked and presented separately: "The individual adventures contain excellent scenes and can easily be run as one-off adventures if the Keeper doesn’t want to link them together. The horror elements are well presented, and the adventures span a wide variety of locations and investigative approaches." He concluded, "Opportunities for role-playing, investigation, and combat abound with nameless horrors and the depraved cultists who worship the creatures of darkness." [2]
In a retrospective review of Shadows of Yog-Sothoth in Black Gate , John ONeill said "Shadows of Yog-Sothoth is an epic, self-contained campaign which first introduced role players to the kind of play demanded by CoC. Players who treated Cthulhu and his minions as simply big D&D monsters, chubby creatures ready to be harvested for their experience point value, were in for a rude awakening." [6]
Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos. The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium; it was first released in 1981 and is in its seventh edition, with licensed foreign language editions available as well. Its game system is based on Chaosium's Basic Role-Playing (BRP) with additions for the horror genre. These include special rules for sanity and luck.
Deities & Demigods, alternatively known as Legends & Lore, is a reference book for the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game (D&D). The book provides descriptions and game statistics of gods and legendary creatures from various sources in mythology and fiction, and allows dungeon masters to incorporate aspects of religions and mythos into their D&D campaigns.
Desert of Desolation is a compilation adventure module published by TSR for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy roleplaying game. It combines three previously published individual modules: Pharaoh, Oasis of the White Palm, and Lost Tomb of Martek. The modules were made for use with the first edition Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (AD&D) rules. Pharaoh was created by Tracy and Laura Hickman soon after the couple married in 1977, and published by TSR in 1982. Oasis of the White Palm was a collaboration between Tracy Hickman and Philip Meyers, and Hickman wrote the Lost Tomb of Martek on his own; both were printed in 1983.
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Cthulhu by Gaslight is a horror tabletop role-playing supplement, written by William A. Barton, with art by Kevin Ramos, and first published by Chaosium in 1986. This supplement provides information on role-playing in an alternate setting of Victorian England of the 1890s for Call of Cthulhu. An expanded second edition was published in 1988, and a third edition was published in 2012. It won an Origins Award and received positive reviews in game periodicals including White Dwarf, Casus Belli, Different Worlds, Space Gamer/Fantasy Gamer, The Games Machine, Games International, and Dragon.
H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands is a fantasy tabletop role-playing supplement published by Chaosium in 1986 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu that features six adventures set in the world of H.P. Lovecraft's Dream cycle stories. There have been 5 editions.
S. Petersen's Field Guide to Creatures of the Dreamlands is a supplement published by Chaosium in 1989 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. It features creatures from the world of H.P. Lovecraft's Dream cycle stories.
The Golden Dawn is a Horror Fiction supplement published under license by Pagan Publishing in 1996 for Chaosium's horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu.
The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep is an adventure campaign published by Chaosium in 1996 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu; it is the third edition of the adventure campaign Masks of Nyarlathotep originally published in 1984. It is a series of several sequential adventures set in the 1920s that take the player characters from New York, to London, Cairo, Nairobi, and Shanghai as they deal with the threat of the god Nyarlathotep. The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep is a revised and expanded version of the original adventure scenario with additional material by new authors. It won an Origins Award and received positive reviews in game periodicals including Arcane and Dragon.
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Cthulhu Now is a supplement published by Chaosium in 1987 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu.
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S. Petersen's Field Guide to Cthulhu Monsters is a sourcebook published by Chaosium in 1988 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu.
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Terror Australis is a supplement published by Chaosium in 1987 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, itself based on the works of H. P. Lovecraft. It was written by Penelope Love, Mark Morrison, Lynn Willis, Larry DiTillio, and Sandy Petersen, and is intended to be used as a sourcebook for adventures in Australia in the 1920s. It received positive reviews in game periodicals including White Dwarf, Casus Belli, and Dragon. A revised and expanded second edition was published in 2019, which won two ENnie Awards.
The Asylum & Other Tales is an anthology of seven adventures published by Chaosium in 1983 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu.