Released Today: Our First Medieval Scenario

Hot on the heels of our release last month of the Cthulhu Eternal Medieval SRD, we are pleased to announce the release of the first PDF scenario playable with those rules. The Lord of Nombrecht is a fairly chunky and investigation heavy adventure set in the Holy Roman Empire (modern-day Germany) anytime from 1000CE to 1300CE. It went on sale yesterday over on DTRPG.

The scenario takes place in castle perched high up in the mountains. The lord of the domain lies dead, purportedly the victim of an unfortunate hunting accident. But was it really an accident? The abbot of nearby Hohenfluss Monastery has his doubts, and commissions the Protagonists (who can be either members of the monastic community or friends of the abbot) to look into the affair.

Arriving at Castle Nombrecht they are swept up in preparations for the grand ball which will signal the heir-apparent being crowned as the new Lord. Amid dance rehearsals, leisure trips around the estate, and sundry intrigues of a personal nature they must discreetly conduct their inquiries. Not all is as it appears, and what begins as a simple mystery to solve slowly drifts into stranger and stranger territory, as tendrils of an otherworldly force begin to become plain, and exert their influence on the castle community.

The scenario was originally written in German and published in Issue 3 of the (awesome) Cthulhus Ruf magazine back in 2013. This English translation expands a little on the original and introduces an all-new malevolent force of the Cthulhu Mythos to strike fear into the Protagonists’ hearts. Assuming, of course, that they don’t foil the insane machinations that threaten to unleash otherworldly horror upon the unsuspecting Holy Roman Empire.

Thomas Michalski’s adventure perfectly blends an investigation-heavy Lovecraftian pseudo-sandbox with an authentic sense of the historical realities of life in the High Middle Ages. In many ways it has a similar vibe to “The Name of the Rose”, Umberto Eco’s Medieval detective tale. At its heart is a multi-stranded mystery that is complex enough to keep mystery-loving players guessing but also clearly explained so that a GM doesn’t get lost in the interwoven network of NPC motivations. And it features a truly horrific Mythos beastie at the end (if things get that far).

The 50-page adventure is available right now on DriveThruRPG, bundled with the Cthulhu Eternal Medieval SRD rules, a bunch of digital assets for VTT play, and a collection of pre-generated Protagonists if you want to get playing immediately.

This is the first in our “Dark Maledictions” line of self-contained scenarios set in Medieval Europe and Britain (500CE to 1300CE) and infused with Lovecraftian hints of cosmic horror. We already have a second in the works … so watch this space for more Medieval Cthulhu goodness to come.

Cthulhu Eternal Medieval SRD Released!

Walking the Medieval streets of Lovecraft-haunted Europe can be rough.

It never rains but it pours ichor from the interstitial void. After having a fairly slow release schedule for the end of 2022, we’re now in the enviable position of announcing the release of yet another Cthulhu Eternal SRD that our team have been slogging away on for a while — this one is the Cthulhu Eternal Medieval SRD, available right now over on DTRPG.

The SRD is written by Chad Bowser, who has written oodles of historical stuff and Cthulhu stuff and sometimes historical Cthulhu stuff, for a range of different publishers. These rules are intended to support games set in any European/British setting from roughly the period 500CE to 1300CE (yes, 800 years of history all in one ruleset!).

While the Medieval period is not one typically associated with investigative horror, many of the common themes of cosmic horror resonate strongly with the vast social and cultural changes that sweep through Europe during these centuries. Science and rational conceptions of the world are luxuries for a future age — in these times the hidden horrors exist as an unknowable cancer. Something inexorably nibbling away at the institutions that keep men safe and sane.

The church, trust in the natural order of the world, and established feudal traditions of social order … all of them are as a speck of dust when the alien forces of the Cthulhu Mythos choose to rouse. The only thing that stands between mankind and a horrific awakening of ancient terrors … is a few hardy Protagonists willing to stand against impossible odds. Because the consequences of not fighting the horrors is something even more terrifying.

So … if you’re itching to get your players into a setting where they can literally “go Medieval” on some horrors from the terrifying Cthulhu Mythos … here’s the link. Just don’t complain to us when your players’ Protagonists wind up gibbering and broken invalids, living out their cursed short lives comforted in a monastery somewhere.