We run a lot of different role playing systems at The Malted Meeple, and within those systems a wide variety of story lines. Some of these are stand alone “one off” stories, while others form part of a larger story arc or campaign. Perhaps the best of these long form campaign style games come not from published materials, but straight from the delightfully twisted minds of our Game Masters. Here to announce the newest challenge available to Meeple players is guest blogger and our very own Call of Cthulhu Keeper and Dungeon Meeple, Tyler Hudak.

One of the greatest aspects of tabletop roleplaying is the campaign. In a campaign, the player characters (PCs) embark on an adventure of a grand and epic scale, the success or failure of which often involves mortal consequences. Think along the lines of the Fellowship attempting to destroy Sauron’s ring or Luke Skywalker and companions rescuing Princess Leia and destroying the Death Star. Campaigns often take multiple sessions to complete and may last through weeks, months, or even years of game sessions.

Gamers are most familiar with quest-style campaigns, often associated with RPGs like Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, or Star Wars. These are most like the aforementioned journeys to destroy the ring or Death Star. In these quests, PCs usually have a clear idea of who the bad guy is and what they need to do in order to stop them. However, there is another type of campaign seen in horror RPGs: the investigative campaign.

In investigative campaigns, much of the campaign is played out by the PCs trying to solve a mystery of some kind. In horror RPGs, like Call of Cthulhu, this mystery takes on supernatural aspects that cause the PCs to lose their sanity in a slow, downward spiral as the true nature of the mystery is revealed. The revelation occurs over the course of the campaign (and multiple game sessions) with little pieces of the puzzle discovered in each session. The climax of the campaign occurs when the mystery reveals the ultimate evil working behind the scenes and the PCs must confront it. Survival, especially in Call of Cthulhu campaigns, is certainly not guaranteed.

For most of 2016, I was running a Call of Cthulhu investigative horror campaign at The Malted Meeple. In this campaign, the PCs were thrust into events of an otherworldly nature that took them from the campus of Miskatonic University, to a sleepy and unnerving town in Vermont, and finally to the moon. Along the way they were confronted by brain-swapped students, alien creatures, a vindictive corporation, and even a Great Old One that destroyed an entire village. The sanity of PCs were lost in great amounts, many were on the brink of death, and one performed a self-sacrifice so the rest could escape and save the planet.

Since then, I have been planning the next investigative horror Call of Cthulhu campaign to run at The Malted Meeple. This time, we will be using the new Pulp Cthulhu supplement, bringing a new level of world-spanning horror and epic adventure to the table. Players will take the role of over-the-top, two-fisted adventurers that get caught up in a nefarious plot by an evil organization bent on world domination. Think Indiana Jones meets Cthulhu!

The first game will take place on February 2nd, 2017. The first session will start with character creation and move into the first part of the campaign. Don’t know how to play Call of Cthulhu? Not a problem! The rules are easy and will be taught. Not sure if you can be at all the games for the campaign? Not an issue at all – players will be able to jump in and out of the campaign as needed.

So come join us for the start of another amazing campaign at The Malted Meeple and experience the excitement, and horror, which is Pulp Call of Cthulhu!