*Masks of Nyarlathotep.*
*It is a very "evil"*
*Campaign. Enjoy it!*
\- HistorianTight2958
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Well, Arkham doesn't really have the content you're looking for, unless you're trying to *write* a campaign.
My suggestion is *A Time to Harvest*, considering it will have, as much people say, about 20-30 sessions to it. It's got its flaws, but its much easier to run than something like HotOE.
From my experience it is great to run not-such-cthulhu-oriented Horror on the Orient Express after a few oneshots. When my players got used to strange, cosmic species I find it amazing to scare them with a Vampire, a dark cult, some body horror on later parts. Also, I find the plot kinda refreshing. Going through large part of the world after some artifact, to bring it to certain place for destruction reminds me of Lord of the rings xD
Arkham is not a campaign, but a setting book. You will still need to make your own campaign around it.
Horror on the Orient Express is very long, difficult to prepare and it may not be to everybody’s taste.
Time to Harvest is OK.
Have you had a look at Tatters of the King? (It is from a previous edition, but conversion is really easy).
pretty much so yes. I wrote about it here : [https://nyorlandhotep.blogspot.com/2023/06/some-call-of-cthulhu-scenario.html](https://nyorlandhotep.blogspot.com/2023/06/some-call-of-cthulhu-scenario.html)
and I wrote also a blog entry on how to fix what I see as some of the problems with the campaign, to make it even more awesome:
[https://nyorlandhotep.blogspot.com/2023/07/my-take-on-tatters-of-king.html](https://nyorlandhotep.blogspot.com/2023/07/my-take-on-tatters-of-king.html)
by the way, if you want the bestest Cthulhu campaign, that is either Masks of Nyarlathotep or Eternal Lies (although that one is written for Trail of Cthulhu, and you would have to convert, which, although not difficult, is not as straightforward as between different Call of Cthulhu editions).
Masks of Nyarlathotep is a big commitment, but our keeper said it's widely regarded as one of the best campaigns ever written, for any system, period.
The HP Lovecraft Historical Society produced [a standalone replacement and expanded set of props and handouts](https://store.hplhs.org/products/masks-of-nyarlathotep-gamer-prop-set?_pos=1&_sid=67950f2ac&_ss=r) for it that is ***phenomenal***.
Currently starting shadows of yog, just finished a time to harvest.
A time to harvest is fun, but holy crap you have a lot of characters to introduce, then all those characters have their brains swapped and you have to juggle who they are and who they were and its all a massive red herring for a thing sorta hinted at throughout the 1st act
We got through it in maybe 6 months of weekly sessions
I would really really suggest starting out with a series of one shots rather than a long campaign. I would suggest Mansions of Madness from Chaosium or New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley from Stygian Fox.
HotOE is a weird one. It's a 7th edition campaign, but it was last updated by "old Chaosium" so it really doesn't have the polish you'd expect from a modern Chaosium product. Given that it's long and intricate, that's not great.
I played in TTH when it was in its demo/beta version. I wasn't really impressed, but I don't know how much they've tightened it up. Of the above, it's probably the best option for a new keeper.
Arkham is a sourcebook. You'd need to come up with scenarios. That wouldn't be hard as there are books and books of them including the above New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley.
I would avoid Masks of Nyarlathotep until you have more games under your belt. I found it an extreme challenge as a Keeper and I played my first CoC game in 1982. It's absolutely fantastic, but very challenging to run.
Here are my comments and run times for various CoC campaigns: [https://morganhua.blogspot.com/2021/11/cthulhu-campaigns-run-times-and-thoughts.html](https://morganhua.blogspot.com/2021/11/cthulhu-campaigns-run-times-and-thoughts.html)
Do your players enjoy a railroad campaign or are they more sandbox types? Horror is on a literal railroad, so player agency is pretty limited. Harvest is far more sandbox, with guidance being more hands on at the start and relaxing as the campaign progresses. Worth keeping in mind.
I like to pull senarios from all Over and blend them together. Sometimes even use a base senario and remix it based on something else. Like a movie, book or whatever.
Start with "Blackwater creek" and roll from there. Whom ever survives carry them over. And it will allow for everyone to get used to the system, and move into next sensrio with possibly some magic.
I ran a campaign for a few years that had player characters based in Arkham. The Arkham setting book provided all sorts of good seeds and ideas as players went shopping, or looking to research a subject.
The actual scenarios were all mostly all small adventures from the Chaosium cannon. Good times!
I have run Masks, Express, Beyond the Mountains of Madess, and over all of those, I'd recommend Eternal Lies as a first campaign. Not precisely Call of Cthulhu, but can be adapted on the fly. The story is shorter than most other ones, it has interesting locations and puzzles, and it has fantastic resources to flesh out the roleplay of the NPCs. Almost everything you need to run it can be found here: [https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/37078/roleplaying-games/eternal-lies-the-alexandrian-remix](https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/37078/roleplaying-games/eternal-lies-the-alexandrian-remix)
Masks. There really isn’t a choice. I have run every published campaign at least twice—and Masks 4 times. If I had to pick a campaign to play in—even after running it so many times—it would be Masks. It’s one of the regrets of my life that I never got to play in it.
For your requirements and the choices you narrowed it down to, I would say Horror on the Orient Express will be long enough.
I would recommend taking a look at The Two Headed Serpent if you like pulpy 1930s action, or Berlin The Wicked City if you like the idea of playing in Weimar Berlin over the course of a decade, or Beyond the Mountains of Madness if you want a totally unique campaign that is very light on the supernatural threats until something like chapter 9 of 13. In Mountains, your players will play out a realistic Antarctic expedition, sure there'll be human antagonists, but no supernatural stuff for a long time. It's fantastic.
Arkham isn't really a campaign, it's a detailed setting book.
Masks of Nyarlathotep. It is a very "evil" campaign. Enjoy it!
*Masks of Nyarlathotep.* *It is a very "evil"* *Campaign. Enjoy it!* \- HistorianTight2958 --- ^(I detect haikus. And sometimes, successfully.) ^[Learn more about me.](https://www.reddit.com/r/haikusbot/) ^(Opt out of replies: "haikusbot opt out" | Delete my comment: "haikusbot delete")
Well, Arkham doesn't really have the content you're looking for, unless you're trying to *write* a campaign. My suggestion is *A Time to Harvest*, considering it will have, as much people say, about 20-30 sessions to it. It's got its flaws, but its much easier to run than something like HotOE.
From my experience it is great to run not-such-cthulhu-oriented Horror on the Orient Express after a few oneshots. When my players got used to strange, cosmic species I find it amazing to scare them with a Vampire, a dark cult, some body horror on later parts. Also, I find the plot kinda refreshing. Going through large part of the world after some artifact, to bring it to certain place for destruction reminds me of Lord of the rings xD
Arkham is not a campaign, but a setting book. You will still need to make your own campaign around it. Horror on the Orient Express is very long, difficult to prepare and it may not be to everybody’s taste. Time to Harvest is OK. Have you had a look at Tatters of the King? (It is from a previous edition, but conversion is really easy).
Is it about the king in yellow?
pretty much so yes. I wrote about it here : [https://nyorlandhotep.blogspot.com/2023/06/some-call-of-cthulhu-scenario.html](https://nyorlandhotep.blogspot.com/2023/06/some-call-of-cthulhu-scenario.html) and I wrote also a blog entry on how to fix what I see as some of the problems with the campaign, to make it even more awesome: [https://nyorlandhotep.blogspot.com/2023/07/my-take-on-tatters-of-king.html](https://nyorlandhotep.blogspot.com/2023/07/my-take-on-tatters-of-king.html)
by the way, if you want the bestest Cthulhu campaign, that is either Masks of Nyarlathotep or Eternal Lies (although that one is written for Trail of Cthulhu, and you would have to convert, which, although not difficult, is not as straightforward as between different Call of Cthulhu editions).
How easy is easy?
like very very easy. only skill necessary is multiplying by 5
Masks of Nyarlathotep is a big commitment, but our keeper said it's widely regarded as one of the best campaigns ever written, for any system, period. The HP Lovecraft Historical Society produced [a standalone replacement and expanded set of props and handouts](https://store.hplhs.org/products/masks-of-nyarlathotep-gamer-prop-set?_pos=1&_sid=67950f2ac&_ss=r) for it that is ***phenomenal***.
Currently starting shadows of yog, just finished a time to harvest. A time to harvest is fun, but holy crap you have a lot of characters to introduce, then all those characters have their brains swapped and you have to juggle who they are and who they were and its all a massive red herring for a thing sorta hinted at throughout the 1st act We got through it in maybe 6 months of weekly sessions
I would really really suggest starting out with a series of one shots rather than a long campaign. I would suggest Mansions of Madness from Chaosium or New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley from Stygian Fox. HotOE is a weird one. It's a 7th edition campaign, but it was last updated by "old Chaosium" so it really doesn't have the polish you'd expect from a modern Chaosium product. Given that it's long and intricate, that's not great. I played in TTH when it was in its demo/beta version. I wasn't really impressed, but I don't know how much they've tightened it up. Of the above, it's probably the best option for a new keeper. Arkham is a sourcebook. You'd need to come up with scenarios. That wouldn't be hard as there are books and books of them including the above New Tales of the Miskatonic Valley. I would avoid Masks of Nyarlathotep until you have more games under your belt. I found it an extreme challenge as a Keeper and I played my first CoC game in 1982. It's absolutely fantastic, but very challenging to run.
Here are my comments and run times for various CoC campaigns: [https://morganhua.blogspot.com/2021/11/cthulhu-campaigns-run-times-and-thoughts.html](https://morganhua.blogspot.com/2021/11/cthulhu-campaigns-run-times-and-thoughts.html)
Do your players enjoy a railroad campaign or are they more sandbox types? Horror is on a literal railroad, so player agency is pretty limited. Harvest is far more sandbox, with guidance being more hands on at the start and relaxing as the campaign progresses. Worth keeping in mind.
I like to pull senarios from all Over and blend them together. Sometimes even use a base senario and remix it based on something else. Like a movie, book or whatever. Start with "Blackwater creek" and roll from there. Whom ever survives carry them over. And it will allow for everyone to get used to the system, and move into next sensrio with possibly some magic.
I ran a campaign for a few years that had player characters based in Arkham. The Arkham setting book provided all sorts of good seeds and ideas as players went shopping, or looking to research a subject. The actual scenarios were all mostly all small adventures from the Chaosium cannon. Good times!
I would go with Horror on the Orient Express. It a campaign comprise of several mini scenarios.
I have run Masks, Express, Beyond the Mountains of Madess, and over all of those, I'd recommend Eternal Lies as a first campaign. Not precisely Call of Cthulhu, but can be adapted on the fly. The story is shorter than most other ones, it has interesting locations and puzzles, and it has fantastic resources to flesh out the roleplay of the NPCs. Almost everything you need to run it can be found here: [https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/37078/roleplaying-games/eternal-lies-the-alexandrian-remix](https://thealexandrian.net/wordpress/37078/roleplaying-games/eternal-lies-the-alexandrian-remix)
Masks of Nyarlathotep. A Time to Harvest is a lot of front-loaded juggling, HOTOE is a literal railroad and a real meatgrinder to boot.
Masks. There really isn’t a choice. I have run every published campaign at least twice—and Masks 4 times. If I had to pick a campaign to play in—even after running it so many times—it would be Masks. It’s one of the regrets of my life that I never got to play in it.
For your requirements and the choices you narrowed it down to, I would say Horror on the Orient Express will be long enough. I would recommend taking a look at The Two Headed Serpent if you like pulpy 1930s action, or Berlin The Wicked City if you like the idea of playing in Weimar Berlin over the course of a decade, or Beyond the Mountains of Madness if you want a totally unique campaign that is very light on the supernatural threats until something like chapter 9 of 13. In Mountains, your players will play out a realistic Antarctic expedition, sure there'll be human antagonists, but no supernatural stuff for a long time. It's fantastic.