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Revisiting the Legend-Haunted City

ARKHAM NOW updates to modern times the famous and fabled city of Arkham for the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game.

Most residents believe there is only one horror lurking in this legendary haunted town — the urban sprawl slowly eroding Arkham’s old New England beauty. Rushing by neon signs and mega-marts to obtain even more material possessions, no one notices the more disturbing, underlying qualities of the city: the grotesque vegetation sprouting in some places, the sometimes-odd taste from the reservoir’s drinking water, the disturbingly high rate of birth defects, the too-frequent child abductions.

Those who make inquires are scoffed at by citizens, and rebuffed by local and state officials. The truly brave continue to put the pieces together, posting their thoughts on the Internet. Many of these individuals disappear from cyberspace eventually — often due to the effects some of these discoveries can have on one’s mental health.

Though they would never admit it, many of the long time residents of Arkham know there is something not quite right about their town…

HERE IS ONE SCENARIO FROM ARKHAM NOW

"Lost in a Book" — in the 1920s, affluent bibliophile Stuart Portman had the finest book collection in all of Arkham, including the several bookshops that serviced the town at the time.

Portman was also quite the degenerate, with many rapes to his credit. His wealth, family status, and natural cunning insulated Portman from the fallout of such despicable behavior.

Toward the end of his life – a lifelong smoker, Portman developed cancer of the lung in his late fifties – he began frantically searching for any means to prolong his existence. With so many crimes of the flesh attached to his soul, Portman in his final years developed a conscience, or at least was fanatically determined to put off any punishment for his sins that he so deftly avoided in his mortal existence.

Medical science of the day was no help – Portman was a goner. He turned to his collection of books, to the queer, strange books on black magic and occultism that he had merely collected as expensive novelties; now they might hold something of true value for the failing bibliophile.

Scenario by Brian Courtemanche . 16 pages. 8.5 x 11" watermarked PDF.