Mansions of Madness (Call of Cthulhu)
Mansions of Madness is a collection of adventure scenarios published by Chaosium in 1990 for the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu, itself based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
Plot summary
[edit]Mansions of Madness is a collection of five horror occult adventures set in the 1920s, all of them focused on a mansion or other large building:
- "Mr. Corbett": An innocent-looking neighbor has a disturbing secret hobby of worshiping Things from Beyond.
- "The Plantation": Set in southern Georgia and involving voodoo.
- "The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse": An investigation of a deadly mansion.
- "The Sanatorium": The Investigators are trapped on an island with madmen.
- "Mansion of Madness": A three-part adventure that centers on a strange, highly coveted black stone.[1]
All of the adventures comply with the rules for the 4th edition of Call of Cthulhu. There are seven pages of player handouts, although these are not perforated and must be either cut out or photocopied.[2]
Publication history
[edit]Chaosium first released the horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu in 1981, and regularly refreshed it with new editions containing revamped rules. The fourth edition's release in 1989 sparked a line of products that game historian Stu Horvath called "the golden age for the line".[3] One of these products was Mansions of Madness, with adventures written by Fred Behrendt, Shawn DeWolfe, Keith Herber, Wesley Martin, and Mark Morrison, with cover art by Lee Gibbons and interior illustrations by Janet Aulisio and Sam Inabinet.[4] It was published by Chaosium in 1990 as a 128-page book.[1]
Reception
[edit]In Issue 26 of White Wolf (April/May 1991), Wayne Ligon thought some of the shorter adventures were useful either to be dropped into a campaign for a single session, or used as a source for background information on cults. However Ligon found "The Crack'd and Crook'd Mansion" to have "good flavor and potentially great play value." Likewise Ligon thought "Mansion of Madness" to be "easily the most complex and interesting adventure in the book. It is quite bizarre and unique, with plot twists and a number of villains working at cross purposes." Ligon concluded by giving the book a rating of 3 out of 5, saying, "Mansions of Madness provides two really interesting adventures, with three others that are 'merely' ordinary, but provide good background info for future games."[2]
Other recognition
[edit]A copy of Mansions of Madness is held in the Edwin and Terry Murray Collection of Role-Playing Games at Duke University.[5]
Other reviews
[edit]- The Annotated Unspeakable Oath (Issue 1 - 1993)[6]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. p. 244. ISBN 0-87975-653-5.
- ^ a b Ligon, Wayne (April–May 1991). "Capsule Reviews". White Wolf Magazine. No. 26. p. 34.
- ^ Horvath, Stu (2023). Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. p. 110. ISBN 9780262048224.
- ^ "Mansions of Madness". Guide du Rôliste Galactique (in French). 2009-05-08. Retrieved 2024-10-20.
- ^ "Mansions of Madness (Oakland, CA: Chaosium Inc.), 1990". Duke University Archives & Manuscripts Collection Guides. Duke University. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
- ^ "New for Cthulhu | Article | RPGGeek".