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Call of Cthulhu: The Curse of Nineveh

The Curse of Nineveh

This mammoth work comprises a campaign set in London during 1925-1926. Intended to be used in conjunction with the Cthulhu Britannica London box set, it is made up of seven parts based around artefacts brought back from an archaelogical expedition to Nineveh. The Introduction explains all this in detail along with background material about what was going on in Nineveh in ancient times and the history of the excavations themselves. This includes references to The Journal of Reginald Campbell Thompson which is available separately as both a novel and something that makes an epic in-character handout to give to your players - Campbell Thompson was the expedition leader. A timeline for the whole campaign and key players are also presented here. Notes on each are extensive, including what they are after and what they are prepared to do to attain their objectives. This enables you to plot their actions throughout the campaign, rather than having them only reacting to the party's actions.

Next comes information on how to set up the campaign. It's assumed players will create characters specifically for it, and to facilitate party formation an organisation called the Wentworth Club is provided: they'll all be members. This is a typical London club, although it has recently decided to accept ladies as well as gentlemen into membership. The club is based on a shared interest in folklore, mythology, history and the occult. Full floorplans and details of some leading members and club staff are provided. Furthermore, there are notes on creating suitable characters for the campaign, likely middle or upper class fellows with appropriate interests for Wentworth Club membership. These interests may be professional or they may be hobbies. There are also options for those who don't want to be club members and a note about integrating replacement characters. Of course, if you are running other London-based adventures (or decide the party is based there) the Wentworth Club makes a good focal point before or after you run this campaign, if you do so at all.

The rest of the book contains the seven adventures. Six relate to separate artefacts from the Nineveh excavation, the final one reveals the underlying plot and brings matters to a head. Interestingly, depending on party actions, events in later chapters may be set in motion even before they have finished the investigation at hand, so it's worth being familiar with the entire campaign before you start (although things are quite well sign-posted as you go through the text). This gives an excellent feel of the world carrying on regardless, making events feel more real to the party.

The first chapter begins at the Wentworth Club at a memorial banquet for a deceased member. Here the party meet one Theodore Rayburn-Price, who is to become a benefactor and mentor of sorts. At the time, though, he is concerned about a young lady journalist who is investigating the rumour of a curse attached to an artefact... which of course soon ends up in the party's hands. (If you have it, so does the young lady's journal - The Journal of Neve Selcibuc, published separately - which she is happy to hand over. From then on - and indeed throughout the campaign - there is a wealth of clues to follow up, people to meet and incidents to investigate.

This campaign is classic Call of Cthulhu at its best, and any Keeper ready to tackle an epic campaign that will take months if not a year or two to complete could do a lot worse than consider this one. Resources in this book alone are excellent, and the companion Cthulhu Britannica: London box set and the two journals mentioned above serve only to enhance it.

Return to The Curse of Nineveh page.

Reviewed: 28 December 2017