The Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion

We’re back (after a bit of a delay) and we’re talking about the classic Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign. In an ideal world we would have had this episode out a couple of weeks ago. Of course, in such an ideal world, Matt wouldn’t have been patient zero in a virus outbreak that wove in aspects of The Stand, The Andromeda Strain and The Exorcist.

The power of Lemsip compels you!

Taking turns in losing our voices and coughing up viscous green slime meant we were out of action as a group for a few weeks, which of course coincided with the first time in over a year that we didn’t have a spare episode in the can. We’ve started building up a buffer of episodes again to prepare for the next time this happens. We’re also thinking about wrapping Matt in plastic the next time he goes to a convention.

Oh yes! Air holes! Whoops.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Masks of Nyarlathotep is rightly revered as not only a classic Call of Cthulhu supplement but one of the best campaigns for any system. Despite having been published over 30 years ago, it remains fresh and popular today, with many groups who weren’t even born when it first came out coming afresh to the aid of Jackson Elias (Huh. That name sounds familiar). If you have never played Masks and plan to do so, be warned that our discussion is filled with spoilers.

For a start, I hear Nyarlathotep may be behind it all…

As well as sharing our own reminiscences, we have brief chats with two guests: Adam Crossingham of Sixtystone Press and Steve Ellis, good friend of the Good Friends. Adam is the man behind the current and highly successful Kickstarter campaign for the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion, and Steve recently ran the campaign using the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Quick-Start rules. Both have interesting insights into the campaign, as well as practical experience of using the Companion in play.

A companion that’s three times larger than the main campaign? It’s the biggest sidekick since Jaws from the Bond films.

We also sneaked in a quick plug for the upcoming Concrete Cow convention. The Cow is only a few weeks away at the time of posting, so sort out your plans if you haven’t already! And if you’re reading this after the event, the next Cow is less than six months away, so there’s no escape.