Beyond the Mountains of Madness: An Epic Campaign & Sourcebook

Call of Cthulhu RPG

by Charles Engan, Jan Engan

Beyond the Mountains of Madness continues the story begun in H.P. Lovecraft's novel "At the Mountains of Madness". It is the tale of the Starkweather-Moore Expedition of 1933 which bravely - and foolishly - seeks to finish what the Miskatonic University Antarctic Expedition began three years before. ~ The massive book consists of the following: * The adventure itself, in seventeen chapters * Seven appendices, discussing timelines, Antarctic exploration background, logistics, vehicles and more * Handouts and maps (including a fold-out map of Antarctica)

Genres: Role Playing Games, Gaming, Games, Cthulhu Mythos, Horror

438 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1999

Reviews

[Ramón Nogueras Pérez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una campaña monumental, ambiciosa, con un nivel de atención al detalle y la documentación como pocas, si alguna vez, he visto. Los autores no sólo crean una tremenda aventura, sino que además enhebran magistralmente el relato de Lovecraft con el relato de Poe "Aventuras de Arthur Gordon Pym", continuando ambos y recogiendo cada detalle y cada alusión.

No le doy cinco estrellas porque su único defecto es la extrema lentitud del escenario en su comienzo. El ritmo es glacial - no es un chiste fácil - y pasan muchas sesiones hasta que la aventura coge ritmo. Pero una vez lo coge, es algo como pocas veces se ha visto.

Clásico imprescindible.

[Arthur B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent Call of Cthulhu campaign which brings to bear an impressive depth of research as well as an imaginative central horror which adeptly builds on the best of Lovecraft's work whilst leaving aside the worst of it. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...

[Psychophant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I have owned this huge book for years, I had read only parts of it, never trying to see the whole picture and, as a game, trying a solo adventure to check how the parts fit.

It is based in what I think is Lovecraft's best work, At the Mountains of Madness, presented as the events surrounding a follow up expedition to the ill fated Lake expedition. It also relies a lot on Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, that inspired Lovecraft.

The attention to detail, the fidelity to the source works, and the amount of data on every aspect of taking an expedition to Antractica and surviving (or dying) there is impressive. The writing is one of the best I have seen in a game supplement. There are lots of hand-outs and details to make the adventure come alive. They even dare to complete (and include the four "missing" full chapters) the Narrative as "Deep Background". Both the Narrative and At the Mountains are used as texts the players can get to know what to expect.

With so many good points, why does it get only three stars? Because to really work it requires that the players do not read (or have not read before) the inspirational book before the appointed time, which I find ludicrous if you are playing a Lovecraft Roleplaying Game. And because it fails as an adventure. Besides some minor intrigue, lots of foreshadowing, and the difficult business of survival in the Ice, it can play in only one real way, so it goes beyond railroading. Yes, that may magnify the pathos in a short story, but if you are planning to spend 80-150 hours of your life getting involved in this, being so predictable is terrible. Also, if players have read At the Mountains (and mine have) it may become ridiculous when they get ready for the First Antarctic War (and this is an adventure where excessive firepower can make things actually easier, and that is also a possibility). I disagree also with the way the adventure flows, from foreboding, action, more foreboding, horror, and then a long denouement that should have been shorter.

I loved it for the setting, but it fails for a game.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

BtMoM is impressive, but hard to love. It offers the most Lovecraftian experience I've seen, but this comes with many drawbacks. The pace is slow and the plot is very rigid. Little the players do matters until the climax of the story. That said, the climax paid for the months we spent building up to it.

Fundamentally, this shouldn't be your first Call of Cthulhu campaign. Also, you need a group of people willing to roleplay arctic explorers for session after session. There's a little combat and thrill sprinkled through, but there's a lot more shopping for supplies or discussing polar weather patterns. The supernatural takes a long time to show up on screen. This allows for a more intense treatment of the horror elements, but it takes a lot of patience. You've got to know you're up for it before committing to that.

Ultimately, I'm glad to have played it and will remember it fondly. I struggle to recommend it though. It's a slow burn that keeps you on tight rails, but if that doesn't scare you away you just might be in for a real treat.

[Chris Chinchilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beyond the Mountains of Madness continues the story begun in H.P. Lovecraft's novel "At the Mountains of Madness". It is the tale of the Starkweather-Moore Expedition of 1933 which bravely - and foolishly - seeks to finish what the Miskatonic University Antarctic Expedition began three years before. ~ The massive book consists of the following: * The adventure itself, in seventeen chapters * Seven appendices, discussing timelines, Antarctic exploration background, logistics, vehicles and more * Handouts and maps (including a fold-out map of Antarctica)

**

[Sami Koskinen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge. Bit too linear and if and when party is wiped out, reinforcements have long walk ahead.