Curse of the Yellow Sign is a trilogy of stand-alone adventures for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game, inspired by the weird stories of Robert W. Chambers, the creator ofThe King in Yellow.
Each adventure is an “Act” in a greater play. A slow revelation of the greater, wicked universe.
The scenarios contain no blasphemous books, no monsters, no cultists and no Library Use rolls. Only ordinary humans confronted with the true nature of the universe. Each adventure is designed to be played in a single evening with limited preparation and maximum impact, filled with the kind of ruthless game master techniques and advice you'd expect from me.
While previously released as PDFs, all three Acts have been revised, expanded and updated with even more cool and scary stuff. We've incorporated years of play experience. We are also able to redesign the visual look and feel of the book with new illustrations and designs.
Also, for the first time, the book contains Unnamable, a new Lovecraftian-style roleplaying system designed by John Wick along with conversion notes for each adventure. I designedUnnamable because I wanted a Lovecraftian system that better fit my own GM style. While I am a life-long fan of the Call of Cthulhu game, Unnamable is a more narrative system, focusing on the choices and sacrifices characters make in Lovecraftian fiction.
Why the Yellow Sign?
While most Lovecraftian games and adventures focus on the pulp style of story (looking for clues, solving puzzles, deciphering old books), Curse of the Yellow Sign focuses on something different. I love the kind of "weird tale" that inspired Lovecraft in the first place and I wanted to write adventures that were like them. Stories meant to make the reader feel a sense of dread and unease. Presenting a mad world that seemed out to get them. There are no clues to uncover, no puzzles to solve. Just the horror of a universe that looks down upon them... and laughs.
The concept of a book that drives the reader mad started with The King in Yellow. The blasphemous, cursed play that caused riots and murders, that was banned in France after a single performance. I loved the concept of an idea that could kill. An idea passed on from one mind to the other. And with that concept, I ironed out the trilogy of adventures that makes upCurse of the Yellow Sign.
Act I: Digging for a Dead God
In May of 1939, somewhere in the jungles of Africa, a small band of soldiers have stumbled across something ancient. Something terrible.
And they are about to suffer the consequences.
In Act I, the players take the roles of soldiers during World War II in Africa. They unlock, and thus, unleash a dangerous idea that takes the form of a German folk tale and slowly drives the soldiers mad.
Digging for a Dead God contains:
- 1 map
- 6 pre-generated characters
- Tons of advice and playtest notes
Act II: Calling the King
At the turn of the century
In an abandoned hotel
In the dead darkness of winter
Six actors sit to read a cursed play
In Act II, a famous theater and movie director puts together a cast for the reading of The King in Yellow. He has an ulterior motive... but then again, so does the play.
Calling the King contains:
- 6 pre-generated and illustrated characters
- Excerpts from Act 1 of The King in Yellow
- Theories on the ever-mercurial, seemingly shapeshifting play
- Tons of advice and playtest notes
- Map of the hotel
Act III: Archimedes VII
Archimedes 7 is a colony ship traveling form our solar system to a distant world. A small piece of tin protecting its inhabitants from the dangers of the void.
But the real danger is already inside the ship.
We've been to the past, to the present, and now we reach the future where the horrors that have been unlocked finally reach out to the stars.
Archimedes 7 contains:
- a map of the ship
- 6 pre-generated characters
- Tons of advice and playtest notes
194 pages, hardcover with dustjacket
