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Call of Cthulhu RPG
Mansions of Madness
In dim forgotten recesses of the world lurk mind-twisting horrors. Through the use of human agents these horrors work to thwart mankind's destiny.However, not all of these human agents are willing partners. Many times have the monsters resorted to subtlety and intrigue to further their ends, rather than gross displays of sheer destruction.
Andrew Keetling is one such unwilling agent. A successful Boston businessman, he has disappeared -- held captive in a mansion of madness.
"Mansions Of Madness" is a new collection of five independent tales set in the 1920s. Of varying length and complexity, these adventures can be planted into an ongoing campaign as the keeper sees fit. Some can be played in a single night; others will require several nights to complete. They can readily be used as plot twists, interesting diversions or red herrings.
Andrew Keetling is one such unwilling agent. A successful Boston businessman, he has disappeared -- held captive in a mansion of madness.
"Mansions Of Madness" is a new collection of five independent tales set in the 1920s. Of varying length and complexity, these adventures can be planted into an ongoing campaign as the keeper sees fit. Some can be played in a single night; others will require several nights to complete. They can readily be used as plot twists, interesting diversions or red herrings.
128 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 25, 2018
Mansions of Madness,, a book of six scenarios for Call of Cthulhu. This one has been around for a while and is considered one of their best.
The book contains the following scenarios:
Mister Corbitt which draws the players into exploring Mr Corbitt's creepy house. It has one of the best openings I've seen in a while - the PCs are visiting a friend, and while they are in her living room listening to her drone on about her ailments, they can see the mild-mannered neighbour across the street drag what appears to be a body in a rug out of his house and hoist it into his car.
I loved this scenario!
The Plantatiom draws the characters to a plantation in South Carolina, ostensibly to prevent a ritual sacrifice. However, they end up serving one of the elder gods, and everything goes sideways.
This scenario was a little convoluted for me, but I can see it potentially playing well enough. By convoluted, I mean that the cultists in this scenario think they are serving one being, but are pretending to serve a second, but in reality are serving a thirds, unbeknownst to them.
The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse is another creepy house exploration in the vein of Mr Corbitt, but without the cool beginning. Still, it's very well executed and considered by those who have played the book to be one of the best.
Another great scenario, in by opinion.
The Sanatorium is a fairly simple scenario in which the characters are invited to an island sanatorium to review the psychologist's recent theories. But when they get there, not all is as it seems, and something has clearly gone wrong. The insane are loose on the island and their host is nowhere to be found. They boat ride back has disappeared. An axe murderer seems to be on the loose and the insane are in charge. Also, there's an inhuman being at large.
This one is great fun and concisely written. Also considered a classic.
Mansion of Madness is another convoluted scenario. In this one, someone has disappeared and something been stolen, and both mysteries point to the same place - a mysterious mansion. Only once you've gone to that mansion and lived through the climax, you discover the the thing that was stolen has now been stolen again by someone else, so you then have to go to another mysterious mansion and have a different (but similar) climax.
I felt this one went on just a little too long, and the two climaxes were too similar. It's not terrible, but not one of the better entries.
The Old Damned House is really interesting, and also cleverly written, I think. In this one, the PCs are asked to investigate the disappearance of some pearls from a creepy old mansion - but in this case, the mansion has a creepy old family living in it, and instead of some soul-sucking monster, the PCs have to deal with the (generally) well-meaning but seriously odd family members.
This one seems like a lot of fun - especially for a GM who likes character acting! Also, this scenario is a good model for how to provide clues in CoC, providing many avenues to the same clues.
Overall, I though this was a great set of scenarios, and well worth having in your library. Even the two weaker scenarios (The Plantation and Mansion of Madness) are perfectly serviceable - just a little overwrought for my taste.
The book contains the following scenarios:
Mister Corbitt which draws the players into exploring Mr Corbitt's creepy house. It has one of the best openings I've seen in a while - the PCs are visiting a friend, and while they are in her living room listening to her drone on about her ailments, they can see the mild-mannered neighbour across the street drag what appears to be a body in a rug out of his house and hoist it into his car.
I loved this scenario!
The Plantatiom draws the characters to a plantation in South Carolina, ostensibly to prevent a ritual sacrifice. However, they end up serving one of the elder gods, and everything goes sideways.
This scenario was a little convoluted for me, but I can see it potentially playing well enough. By convoluted, I mean that the cultists in this scenario think they are serving one being, but are pretending to serve a second, but in reality are serving a thirds, unbeknownst to them.
The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse is another creepy house exploration in the vein of Mr Corbitt, but without the cool beginning. Still, it's very well executed and considered by those who have played the book to be one of the best.
Another great scenario, in by opinion.
The Sanatorium is a fairly simple scenario in which the characters are invited to an island sanatorium to review the psychologist's recent theories. But when they get there, not all is as it seems, and something has clearly gone wrong. The insane are loose on the island and their host is nowhere to be found. They boat ride back has disappeared. An axe murderer seems to be on the loose and the insane are in charge. Also, there's an inhuman being at large.
This one is great fun and concisely written. Also considered a classic.
Mansion of Madness is another convoluted scenario. In this one, someone has disappeared and something been stolen, and both mysteries point to the same place - a mysterious mansion. Only once you've gone to that mansion and lived through the climax, you discover the the thing that was stolen has now been stolen again by someone else, so you then have to go to another mysterious mansion and have a different (but similar) climax.
I felt this one went on just a little too long, and the two climaxes were too similar. It's not terrible, but not one of the better entries.
The Old Damned House is really interesting, and also cleverly written, I think. In this one, the PCs are asked to investigate the disappearance of some pearls from a creepy old mansion - but in this case, the mansion has a creepy old family living in it, and instead of some soul-sucking monster, the PCs have to deal with the (generally) well-meaning but seriously odd family members.
This one seems like a lot of fun - especially for a GM who likes character acting! Also, this scenario is a good model for how to provide clues in CoC, providing many avenues to the same clues.
Overall, I though this was a great set of scenarios, and well worth having in your library. Even the two weaker scenarios (The Plantation and Mansion of Madness) are perfectly serviceable - just a little overwrought for my taste.
June 19, 2019
This is a collection of six stand-alone scenarios for the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. Like the title of the book states, each scenario contains a “mansion” or other living accommodations structure for exploration but only three of the scenarios truly have the mansion as the main focal point of the adventure.
I found the scenarios to be a good mixed bag of potential. All of them offer a decent level of investigation opportunity and difficultly levels of the antagonists range from easy to absolutely deadly.
My only gripe with this collection were the numerous spelling errors I ran into. None of the errors were especially detrimental in understanding the material, but they were enough in frequency to be irritating.
I found the scenarios to be a good mixed bag of potential. All of them offer a decent level of investigation opportunity and difficultly levels of the antagonists range from easy to absolutely deadly.
My only gripe with this collection were the numerous spelling errors I ran into. None of the errors were especially detrimental in understanding the material, but they were enough in frequency to be irritating.
December 27, 2022
Somewhat hit and miss scenario collection, though the "hits" are very good. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews