Cthulhu Dark

Cthulhu Dark is a roleplaying game of cosmic horror, in the style of H.P. Lovecraft.

It's about the things we fear, amplified until they are unbearable. It's about stories that genuinely creep you out, not well-worn tropes and creatures you've seen hundreds of times before.

And it's about bleak horror, in which humans are powerless when confronted by hyperintelligent alien horrors. You can't beat them. You can't fight them. You can only watch, run, hide and fear.

If you love Cthulhu games already, then this is Lovecraftian horror at its most intense. If you're new to them, then Cthulhu Dark is a great place to start. You'll enter a world of stories that are both terrifying and terribly human.

The rules are incredibly short: they're tightly focused on horror and they drive the game.

Q: The description says the rules are incredibly short, but the book is 200 pages? What else is in the book? How long are the rules actually?

A: The rules section of the book proper is 12 pages. The rest of the book is broken up into the following sections:

• Cosmic Horror, Mythos and Insight, 3 pages
• Writing A Mystery, 9 pages
• Rewriting The Mystery, 4 pages
• Playing The Mystery, 12 pages
• Threats of the Mythos, 12 pages
• Four sample settings, full scenarios with background material and handouts.
• London 1851: Screams of the Children, 34 pages
• Arkham 1692: The Doors Beyond Time, 32 pages
• Jaiwo 2017: The Curse of the Zimbra, 24 pages
• Mumbai 2037: Consume, 24 pages
• Appendices (Hacking Cthulhu Dark and Design Notes), 10 pages
• Handouts, 10 pages