Amazing Adventures is a d20 game of modern adventure that uses familiar old school rules but keeps the roll high version of later editions. This month continues building a 1930s world of player characters armed with guns and fists wandering northern Massachusetts, facing cults, Deep Ones, witches, ghouls, and more.
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The Books
A few years ago, Chaosium released a series of RPG books set in the haunted fictional towns of Lovecraft Country. The first three books included updated versions of H. P. Lovecraft’s Arkham (PDF), H. P. Lovecraft’s Kingsport, and H. P. Lovecraft’s Dunwich (PDF) all connected along an isolated road. These books are statted for both Call of Cthulhu 6E and Call of Cthulhu D20. With d20 rules, this setting is easily used with Amazing Adventures. These supplements come with poster town maps and a short story or two from Lovecraft himself. The creatures and NPCs in each book have statistics for CoC in the text and d20 conversions in the back. Having everything gathered in one location makes it easier for a GM to reuse the material.
H. P. Lovecraft’s Arkham [about]
Arkham is home to a variety of Mythos monsters and dangerous wizards. Two adventures focus on a different creature. However, the town is truly haunted; any cult, wizard, or monster might feature in an adventure.
Star Vampires
Star vampires are rampant in China currently. Perhaps a conduit or gate occasionally connects the location of the star vampire in Arkham to the others in China. The star vampire might be an advanced scout, hoping to find a foolish wizard to help open a portal and bring in other star vampires to Arkham.
Star vampires are invisible until they feed and the blood gives them a crimson color. One particularly chilling idea is for the PCs to see numerous residents of Arkham come under attack from unseen attackers, only to see a half dozen star vampires appear out of thin air as blood shades their bodies red.
Shoggoth
The shoggoth is a powerful foe, and should be tackled by higher level PCs. The resident shoggoth serves a murderous wizard recently freed from magical imprisonment. This adventure fits the high adventure theme of Amazing Adventures quite well.
A shoggoth can take any needed shape and are able to operate underwater easily. If the PCs take to the ocean in Kingsport, they may encounter not just tentacled monsters but perhaps also massive amoeba-like creatures made out of iridescent black slime with multiple eyes floating in the scum.
H. P. Lovecraft’s Kingsport [about]
Cult of Green Fire
The Cult of Green Fire is deeply entwined with Kingsport life. Oddly, no adventure surrounding the cult is included. Two adventures deal with dreams instead.
However, plenty of details are provided on the cult and it nefarious plan. These cultists would be a great ongoing nemesis to challenge the PCs. And the Mythos monsters called Crawling Ones are creepy crawlies that are also intelligent sorcerers. In addition, byakhee may also be found in these caves. The Manual of Monsters also contains blood worms, people of the worm, and shadow worms all of which may lurk underground. The shadow worm in particular is a fierce and deadly foe to face midlevel groups of PCs.
Hellene Wreck
An adventure across the ocean and facing a tentacled sea monster. The PCs will get to interact with the Coast Guard, deal with a haunted ship, and face a true horror from beneath the deeps. The tentacle monster is part of a ghost ship and can cause the ship to rise up from the depths, beckoning the PCs to come explore it haunted decks.
The tentacle monster also has skeleton crew of undead sailors. While the d20 version of these creatures are not armed, the d100 version is armed with cutlasses and that seems like the better of the two options.
The idea of PCs sailing around the ocean fighting tentacles, a skeleton crew, and a ghost ship fits right in with the themes of Amazing Adventures. Unlucky PCs may even catch a glimpse of something undying and non-Euclidean deep beneath the waves.
H. P. Lovecraft’s Dunwich [about]
Portals to Byakhee and Mi-Go
While the mi-go in the adventure have left and the byakhee presence is minimal, this location could easily be fleshed out to include more creatures. The portal could also connect elsewhere, possibly hurtling the PCs through space or pulling in something from beyond Earth. A combat near a fluctuating portal could introduce a conflict on both sides in two widely varying locations. At the end of each round of combat, the portal might randomly move some combatants between the two areas.
Caves of the Spawn of Abhoth
Abhoth spawns other creatures and lives in a series of sprawling caves. This location is basically a big dungeon crawl and full of nasty, dangerous surprises. Abhoth alone has 11 versions of children, each a different terror. These include those that fly, crawl, flap, flop, and cackle as well as ones with fangs and twin snake heads. In large numbers, these children pose quite a threat.
These caves end in a pyramid that includes books of magic and a gate. Another abomination guards this location.
In addition, a son of Yog-Sothoth also haunts the environs surrounding Dunwich. This creature is terrifying and drains its victims of constitution permanently. Misuse of the pyramid gate could drop a PC right into this thing’s lair.
Finally, an enterprising GM might decide that the story of the Dunwich Horror has not occurred yet. The PCs could become embroiled in the story themselves and uncover the horror for themselves.
Next Steps
Lovecraft Country provides support for an entire campaign of Amazing Adventures. Three towns all surrounded by haunted countryside and terror-filled waves harbor ancient secrets, arcane mysteries, and well-hidden cults. Lovecraft Country can also be part two of a campaign that starts with conflict with the Red God and its cult in Shadows of the Red God. Once Amanda and the Thule Society are defeated, the PCs can move on to Lovecraft Country for further adventures.
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