The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep (Call of Cthulhu RPG… (2024)

A MUST experience for any Cthulhu gamers who wish to play the quintessential 1980s pulpy epic save the world Cthulhu campaign.

This game is a legend in most circles. If you haven't played in it pick it up and run it for some grateful people.

A nice "aha" ending as things all come together but be warned it's a meat grinder. Expect to play multiple characters (I kept my original but the Keeper was kind, I had amazing rolls and I let other people take the risks).

This campaign will likely take a year to a year and a half if you're playing 7-10 hours per month.

5/5 stars

I've been roleplaying for a long time, and had been for quite a while before I picked up Masks of Nyarlathotep, but I don't think I really understood what roleplaying games could be until then.

Masks of Nyarlathotep is a "campaign" for Call of Cthulhu, a roleplaying system based on the fiction of H.P. Lovecraft and others. The story leads the players deep into a worldwide conspiracy of cultists and monsters, on a quest to save the world.

Traditional pre-written "adventures" in roleplaying are like a recipe: each page is a list of steps to walk the players through, giving them a sense of being in control of the narrative. A given adventure might be worth four to ten hours of session time.

Masks was different. Instead of providing the story, it provided only the clues and the setting, leaving the actual story in the hand of the players. Literally every page could represent hours of play, or not, depending on whether the players followed a particular lead.

I've since seen this style of storytelling described (oddly) as a "power matrix." The notion is to create a situation with various tensions, give a sense of how they might resolve, and then improvise. The story emerges organically from the context.

I've seen "campaigns" written this way (mostly for Cthulhu, including the venerable Horror On The Orient Express) and I've written a few of my own, and they make for some of the most immersive engaging roleplaying I've ever done. Masks is probably imperfect in some ways, but when used properly, it's very unlikely that anyone will notice.

I'm giving this five stars, but it isn't as good as the other five star novels or comics I listed. But it deserves five stars since it IS the best role playing supplement I have ever encountered. It changed and transcended the genre, and opened up new possibilities of playing.

Lately, I've been re-interested in role playing games. I like the interactive storytelling; the way it is multi-directional, weaved together, and always improvised. Masks of Nyarlathotep is a perfect example of how it should be done. The book gives an incredibly detailed setting, a detailed back story, believable characters, and a plot that would make H.P. Lovecraft proud (even though it has more pulp elements in it then Lovecraft - think Indiana Jones meets Cthulhu).

Then again, there is no true plot, only a rough outline of what could happen. The book provides physical clues, locations, motivations for the villains, and a timeline to roughly be aware of. The villains are believable with deep flaws that have turned them (literally) into monsters. The setting captures the world in the 1920s and can take the players to New York, England, Cairo, Nairobi, and Shanghai.

And what is it about? Saving the world, of course.

What happened? In 1919, wealthy playboy Roger Carlyle organized an archaeological expedition to Egypt, which was odd, since he had never expressed interests outside of carousing, so his sudden interest in archeology came as a shock to New York's upper society (and the society papers). And then disaster. After months in Egypt, his expedition veered into Nairobi. There they disappeared. An expedition was organized. Bones were found, but nothing conclusive. Several Nairobi citizens were hanged, but few believed they killed Carlyle or their crew. The papers and the public eventually forgot. Now it's 1925, and all hell is about to break lose. YOU find out about it through the awful death of a good friend. And now you're determined to find out what happened.

I've never actually run this game, but it informed the games I have run since then. What I would like to see is some experimental novelist take this form as a launching pad and use it to create a new novel - a novel roughly based on an "adventure module" which would create something that doesn't exist, right now.

MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP is a massive game module that is best really reviewed in two parts with a review of the first version of it, published in 1984 and the revised version published in 2018. It's widely considered to be the greatest adventure module of all time and with good reason because it provided a globe-trotting Indiana Jones-esque epic to save the world from the many faces of Nyarlathotep's cults. I'm actually someone who listened to and enjoyed the audio drama adaptation published by the HP Lovecraft Historical Society.

The premise is basically there's an English/American band of adventurers, sort of Anti-Investigators, who have made a deal with Nyarlathotep to bring about the end of the world by summoning his avatars and doing generic Mythos things to awaken the Great Old Ones. Nyarlathotep has cheated all but one of them, though, because he's a dick. The PCs are thus required to try to thwart all of Nyarlathotep's various schemes in hopes of preventing his bringing about the apocalypse.

The game is fucntional enough but actually suffers from the fact that what made it so broadly appealing is also what makes it a tougher Call of Cthulhu adventure. A bunch of doddering old academics and spiritualists are not going to be able to do this module. No, this needs Doc Savage, Indiana Jones, and Brendon Fraiser's character from THE MUMMY to pull this off as you will be going through a lot of cultists who just want to shoot you.

There's also the fact that the original module didn't necessarily age well as there's a great deal of "sinister foreigner and their evil gods" going on, which the people at Chaosium seem to have agreed with as the revised version going into a much deeper analysis of the cultures the PCs visit as well as touch on themes of imperialism. It's mostly, though, "Yeah, the local Egyptians and African folk hate the cults of Nyarlathotep too" but that isn't nothing.

Un gran módulo para un juego de rol que jamás jugaré pero que he disfrutado como una obra de arte: desde la distancia y la seguridad de quien se sabe mero espectador.

As I have been gamemastering COC from start of eighties I never have seen as great campaign as this is. It is huge and difficult: my players party have been annihilated multiple times. But there is this grand plot all around the globe and it's connected many ways better than in Shadows of YS or Fungi campaigns. The Australia chapter is missing, but when it was published in Terros Australis -book, it was not essential in any way.

First, I never read this version of the Masks, I played this one a long time ago, but as a player, of course, you are never allowed to read the book, this is a Keeper privilege. Now I'm a keeper of a team and I read the newest version in two tomes, adapted for the 7th edition of Call of Chtulhu.
The Masks is famous (or infamous, if you are a player), as the best tabletop role-play campaign ever written. I don't know that, but it is certain that it is an incredible experience to read and play. More than 800 pages of pure fun, very well documented, impeccable edition, with 7 main modules that are linked together and are the main campaign, plus 5 side scenarios. The edition is impeccable, with maps, high quality paper, full of information about the regions that the players are visiting. It is expensive, but you never regret how much you paid.
An incredible edition for the best campaign that I ever played or directed.

An epic story, complex and amazingly detailed. Shows the true potential of RPG scenarios - not just wandering around, killing monsters and getting treasure. I can see no way for a single set of Investigators to survive all the way through, though, without some SERIOUS fudging on the Keep's part. Avoiding conflict is the best way.

Truly a great design for a campaign and a fun read. However, could I actually get players willing to do the 20 or so sessions of such a brutal game and keep playing often enough to remember the plot? I think it would be great. I'm debating to breaking it up into seasons based on the locations.

Me encantaría poder decir un montón de cosas bellas sobre este libro, pero no es más que una aventura bastante larga para un juego de rol, así que poco hay que criticar excepto que la edición nueva es una maravilla de maquetación y calidad, digna de mis dedos sin duda alguna.

Still one of the best Call of Cthulhu campaigns out there, even if it's a bit soft in a handful of places. Regardless of the weak spots, it's still epic, it's still deadly, and it's still a really good campaign that shows how good Call of Cthulhu can be.

No es perfecta, tiene huecos en la historia que tienes que rellenar tú, pero es una de las campañas de los Mitos de Cthulhu más emocionantes y estimulantes.
Es la tercera vez que la empiezo a jugar y esta vez, ¡espero terminarla!

( I read the orignal ' Masks ' but it's not listed on GR here )

Hands down, one of the greatest damn role-playing scenarios of all time.

Mi experiencia con esta gran campaña rolera para La Llamada de Cthulhu se basa exclusivamente en la lectura de la edición que publicó en castellano Joc Internacional en 1992. Las Máscaras de Nyarlathotep es, sin duda, una gran campaña en cuanto a que ofrece material a mansalva para hacer viajar a los personajes jugadores por lugares diversos y fascinantes, de Londres a Shangai, pasando por Kenia o El Cairo. Las motivaciones de los PJ, como era habitual en las aventuras de la época, son apenas esbozadas, entendiendo que es suficiente con el consabido impulso de destruir el Mal que van revelando las evidencias, pero solventado este ligero vínculo introductorio los jugadores tienen por delante una compleja trama repleta de escenarios y secundarios interesantes, alrededor del posible resurgir de un dios maligno. Mantener unidas las piezas y situados a los jugadores se antoja difícil, y algunas situaciones (como era muy habitual también en estas aventuras) se convierten en auténticos pozos negros de los que los investigadores no tendrán posibilidad alguna de escapar, pero aún así (o precisamente por eso) entiendo perfectamente que ocupe un lugar privilegiado en el corazón de muchos jugadores. Si eres capaz de tolerar ese esfuerzo, la recompensa debe ser grande. Los investigadores tienen muchas maneras de afectar al desarrollo de los acontecimientos, más de las que parecen a simple vista, y el ingenio (y las buenas tiradas) podrán ser recompensadas.
Lo que más me ha gustado, no obstante, son algunos elementos sutiles en la redacción, algo de lo que no se suele hablar en las reseñas, y que era realmente poco habitual en aquellos momentos. Se percibe una verdadera voluntad en DiTillio de evocar imágenes en el lector, de seducirle con pequeños detalles para ayudarle a «estar allí» (¿cómo si no podría luego el director de juego trasladar esas ideas a los jugadores?) y para dotar de singularidad a los elementos que lo necesitan. También es loable la originalidad de algunas de las ideas, a veces solo pequeñas cosas, que hacen sentir la historia con más viveza y marcan las diferencias con muchísimas otras aventuras de desarrollo más plano.
Por contra, y volviendo a los pozos oscuros, nos encontramos en demasiados puntos ciertas decisiones salomónicas que pueden acabar con un PJ simplemente por una mala tirada o por realizar una acción en concreto; no hablo de acciones donde el riesgo es evidente sino de situaciones puramente circunstanciales que vienen a dar un bofetón final al jugador, como si quisiera decirle «esto es La Llamada de Cthulhu, muere por tu insolencia». Sé que eso también es fruto de su época, pero no puedo evitar ver en ello un aspecto muy negativo. Por suerte, estos puntos aparecen en momentos muy específicos y cualquier director de juego actual podrá evitarlos o moderarlos de alguna manera para que los jugadores tengan, al menos, algunas señales previas a su posible infortunio. El otro punto negativo es la edición de Joc Internacional en sí. Más allá de su espectacular ilustración de portada, el interior es extremadamente parco y funcional, algo que era habitual en la primera etapa de la editorial, aunque se nota el esfuerzo en el anexo dedicado a las ayudas de juego. Lo que no es excusable de ninguna manera es el intrusismo del traductor. Sus «NdT» son inapropiadas en la mayoría de ocasiones y, aunque notablemente irónicas, pueden llegar a resultar insultantes para el lector.

I found this one in a bin of used RPG books at one of the best FLGSs in my town. Rather, my friend spotted it and I immediately bought it.

This, alongside Horror on the Orient Express, is the definitive grand campaign module for CoC. This is an older version of the campaign, but the basic premise is the same: the players are all connected to a journalist named Jackson Elias. Elias has spent his entire career digging into cults and cult-related things and he's recently turned up dead in New York City. The players must find out what he was investigating and why the deeply frightened man wanted them to meet him at his hotel so badly. The adventure spans the entire globe and involves elements of some of Lovecraft's best stories more than most adventures written for CoC.

The book is great but the softback cover and rest of the paper are entirely too reminiscent of highly disposable school workbooks. If you're into this game and are looking for a great long term campaign, go for this one or HotOE, but go for the modern editions as they both are built for the 7E ruleset and are vastly better quality in every metric (mostly; Horror has some issues that I covered in my review).

A great COC campaign, but the fifth edition is even better. So I would recomend everyone to pay the extra $ to get that one.

Maybe a 3.5. I read it more for the lore. Interesting stuff but the leaps the investigators have to make are pretty impressive to move on to the next scenario.