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Dive into the ultimate guide to magic for RuneQuest! Full color hardcover: https://www.chaosium.com/the-red-book-of-magic-hardcover Special leatherette edition: https://www.chaosium.com/the-red-book-of-magic-leatherette Price includes PDF. Available all locations (US, UK, EU, CAN) except AUS, which should be later this month.

Great news! The Children of Fear is now available in all five Chaosium warehouses - US, UK, EU, CAN and AUS! Our new epic campaign is available as a 416 page full-color hardcover and special edition leatherette. Price includes PDF.

SHORT RATIONS IN NEW PAVIS *** When Sun Dome questers reached New Pavis they found scores of starving refugees congregating around the locked gates. The new Lunar governor, Halcyon var Enkorth, had recently imposed a ruinous entry fee that few of the desperate farmfolk or stranded nomads could afford (and even then, once inside there was no guarantee they would be fed). In a gesture of benevolence, Count Solanthos personally paid to admit all needy solar worshippers, giving over his own gilded breastplate as surety until an equivalent sum in gold wheels could be levied from the people of the Suntown quarter. The food situation inside New Pavis was dire; the municipal granaries were now all but empty. Even the Lunar soldiery were now on short rations, though Halcyon var Enkorth was making a fortune selling barrels of “salted mock pork” of mysterious origin. Suntown residents had been forbidden from partaking of the tainted meat, but Thandren Clubfoot advised the count that the quarter’s own granary would soon be down to dust with the new influx of starving sun worshippers to feed. Solanthos was keen to make the foray to the Devil’s Playground without delay, until the governor insisted he attend an official reception that evening. As allies of the Lunar Empire, and for the sake of good relations between the two great powers the count reluctantly assented. But when introduced to Marusa, the charming Lunar priestess on Halcyon's arm, Solanthos resolved to divulge nothing whatsoever about their true purpose in Pavis. It was not the wanton way Murusa looked at him, or her glib remark about his "famous iron pike" that he chose not to understand; the count was troubled because there was something about the woman that made him think of the Red Witch of the Old Sun Dome. The louche atmosphere of the new governor's court was offensive to Yelmalion sensibilities, and as the evening progressed, Count Solanthos grew increasingly disgusted by the profligate displays of food and wine on offer. Halcyon Var Enkorth fulsomely urged the famished Sun Dome delegation to eat and drink their fill. But, following their leader's example, they instead sat close-mouthed and with eyes straight ahead, their plates and goblets piously untouched. To end the banquet Marusa made an ostentatious show of introducing the court's new "master of revels". Oakly Gauntest was an emaciated beggar with warped and wasted limbs that the Lunar priestess said she'd plucked out of the gutters of Badside. Poor Oakly himself seemed thoroughly confused about where he was, but Halcyon laughed uproariously at all his glum-faced utterances. Solanthos did not find any of Oakly's riddles amusing, or even comprehensible for that matter*. Only Belvani cared to showed any appreciation – best one of us keep on the good side of the governor, he murmured to the count. It was long into the night before they were able to leave the governor's palace, and at dawn the next morning the questers assembled at the Peoples' Gate, ready to pass into the ruins of Pavis. However the gate remained shut. The guards announced that Governor Halcyon had ordered all gates and entryways from New Pavis into the Rubble to remain closed until further notice. Count Solanthos spent the rest of the day seeking an audience with Halcyon var Enkorth, to no avail. The governor instead conveyed an invitation to yet another revel at the palace that evening. Lord Belvani suspected they were deliberately being delayed. He devised a plan: although entry to the Rubble was closed, Halcyon had not yet thought to charge anyone wanting to depart New Pavis for the open country; in fact he positively encouraged any "useless mouths" to leave. Belvani took a retinue of Suntown notables with him to Halcyon's party. He had learned that the beggar Oakly Gauntest had once been an Orlanthi warrior, and on arrival immediately challenged him to the traditional riddling contest. The governor thought this was fabulous sport, and it was only afterwards that he realised Count Solanthos was not present among the yellow-beards. Meanwhile, via the South Gate the Count and the other questers quietly slipped out of the city. The original plan had been to pass through the People’s Gate, there to rendezvous with Haloric Glowbrow and his Sunspear Guards in the Manside Ruins. With that way closed, the Count’s party skirted around the outside walls to the Wyvern Gate. There they would enter the Big Rubble. *OK, so the count is obviously not going to get Illuminated any time soon. Oakly Gauntest is of course another character from Big Rubble's 'The Devil's Playground' scenario. Oakly was an Orlanthi (and secret Nysalor Illuminate) who was the other survivor of Taleo Lumine's ill-fated expedition. He contracted joint rot.

The bad guy in my LM scenario knows Detect Detect Detection*, just in case those pesky junior scribes get any ideas. *to be strictly accurate, one of the heads in his collection does...

SHAME STAYS HIDDEN BUT REDEMPTION IS SOUGHT *** Invictus the Light Captain made his way back to Sun County following his embarrassing interlude with the Lunar priestess Marusa. All around him Invictus saw the terrible grip the Great Winter had on the land: frozen fields that were once thick with golden corn lay dry and hard, and now that Daga was at large, withering corpses of farm animals lay clustered around drying up canals and wells. At the Sun Dome Temple the Light Captain was vexed to learn that the Count and his questers had already set off for Pavis; sadly, their paths had not crossed. Lady Vega chided Invictus for his mysterious absence. Guilt-ridden that his wife – Vega's own sister – was still comatose, he couldn't bring himself to confess where he'd been or what he'd done. Deeply ashamed of his moral failure at the Old Dome, Invictus resolved to atone for it. Before Vega could question him further or Gaumata lay Truth on him, the Light Captain took up the Brass Jar left behind by the Red Witch and set out alone to vanquish the god of drought. It is Zola Fel who assumes the role of Heler in the Sun Dome version of Daga’s Banishment, so Invictus knew he would need the aid of the river. Following the familiar heroquest path taken by the Counts in the annual River Ritual, he made his way down the course of the Ouel Stream. But this time the Ouel was dry, and the desperate and dying people lamenting their misfortune and croaking for his help were real, not play-acting farmers. At the Ouel Stream's confluence with the Zola Fel Lord Invictus waded as deep as he could go into the frigid and now very shallow water. He raised his arms and called on the river. There was no answer. For hours he tried but to no avail; the river ignored his calls. Finally, the crowd of starving farmers who had gathered around lost their patience. First they shouted reproaches and insults their once-popular hero; they knew Invictus had commanded the forces against the Cradle and held him to blame for the making the life-giving river angry with the People of the Sun. Then they began to pelt their Light Captain with stones. To escape the furious mob and their brickbats, Invictus waded across the river and disappeared into the reed banks of the New Bog on the other side. For an unknown time* he wandered aimlessly through the frozen swamp, growing numb with cold and despairing what to do next. Then came his chance to make amends with the Zola Fel: Invictus found the ancient catfish priest Brighteye trapped and suffocating in the dwindling dregs of a pond. Through stinking thigh-deep mud, Invictus dragged the great fish over the riverbed to the safety of a deeper pool, all the while fighting off a swarm of leechlike broo that were drawn to them. In gratitude, Brighteye brought Invictus to Zola Fel, who had retreated in alarm to a secret shrine as the waters dried up around him. The river god was still deeply upset with the Sun Domers. Nevertheless, he was grudgingly thankful that the Light Captain had saved his oldest devotee, and listened to the promises the Yelmalion made to heal the rift between the River and the Sun lands. Invictus then told Zola Fel of his quest to fight Daga, and implored him for aid, as he had given to the Counts of old**. The river god was reluctant, until he noticed that Invictus had brought a brass jar, like the Counts he’d aided in times past. Only then did Zola Fel finally agree to help. * I suspect Invictus is actually on his heroquest at this point and has stepped out of Time, he just doesn't know it. ** as described in The River Ritual in RQ3's Sun County.

Temptation Resisted With food supplies almost gone and no end to Winter in sight, Count Solanthos Ironpike decreed that the heroquesting band of Sun Domers, Elves, and their allies would go to Pavis, there to the face the Eye and awaken Aldrya. Vega Goldbreath would remain behind at the Great Sun Dome. With Invictus missing and Belvani questing with the count, this left her, the only female rune lord in the cult, to serve as temporal head of the Sun Folk. Vega's earlier heroquesting attempt to break the Winter had not succeeded, but she swore she would prove to all a Light Lady was just as worthy of the mantle of leadership as a Light Son. Windwhistler the Wyrm returned to keep watch over the Old Sun Dome. Of the absent Light Captain, Gaumata could only discern from his divinations that Invictus had "fallen", and although he would "see the light", would "fall further yet". Another of the seer's visions was clear though. As the questers prepared to depart, the high priest told the count they must take the reformed baboon Melo Yelo along with them. The Light Khan Golungan was most unkeen to have such a beast in their party, for out on the plains the Sable Nation considered baboons little more than vermin. But Gaumata insisted Yelmalio's Light of Truth had shone on this curious creature and it might yet still have a part to play in their mission. Given his own well-known antipathies towards non-humans, Solanthos was surprisingly quick to relent. The questers were eager to make haste to Pavis, but their path was blocked: a great host of ravenous Gagarthi outlaws were despoiling the area around Garhound. To evade the raiders, Lord Belvani cleverly suggested using the subterranean tubes of the Krarshti. Making their way through the tunnels the questers were shocked to come across a huge excavated vault, stuffed to the brim with hoarded foodstuffs – grain, preserved fruits and meat, wine, assorted luxuries, as well as contraband including hazia. There was even fodder for animals. This was enough to help sustain the population for weeks! The Yelornan Cathea Goldenhelm argued that this unexpected bounty meant they should now abandon their dangerous mission altogether. But the count knew that in the Darkness the Son of the Sun too had been sorely tempted to give up. Solanthos gritted his teeth and implacably ordered all the tainted supplies destroyed. Yet again Belvani’s cunning came to the fore: through a series of clever feints, the Light Khan Golungan and his sable riders lured the starving Gagarthi to the vault, and when they went in whooping for the plunder, the Count sent Sunspears and salamanders after them to righteously consume it in fire. The way was now clear to Pavis.

Player characters in my not particularly serious MGF-style scenario Getting of Wisdom (RQG version coming some day!) are all junior scribes in the Great Temple of Knowledge in Nochet. As part of character creation they get to choose from one of: Detect Vellum Detect Parchment Detect Paper Detect Scroll Detect Book

By Lynne Hardy, Call of Cthulhu associate editor and author of The Children of Fear: A 1920s Campaign Across Asia. Have Maps and Handouts Handy Make sure you have all the handouts and maps you’re going to need this session ready and to hand. You can download these all free from Chaosium.com. They are also available free at our Itch.io page. You might want to have extra copies so everyone can have one (this is much easier to do if you’re gaming online). With maps, you might prefer to have a single, larger version in the centre of the table for everyone to see, if you’re playing face-to-face. (A poster-sized version of the Investigator Map is also available at our Redbubble store) You might even want to create your own versions of some handouts so that you can age or personalise them, or make your own props. However, don’t feel you have to, as this can create a lot more work for you. If it’s the sort of thing you enjoy, though, then go for it! Don’t forget to keep your notebook handy in case you have to write down something that comes up in play, be that an NPC’s name or a cool idea for something you could do next session, or the answer you made up off the top of your head in response to an unexpected question. Keeping hold of that information and feeding it back into the game help to personalise it even further. Onwards to an epic journey of intrigue and horror! And that’s pretty much it—there’s really not much more you can do other than to get on with running The Children of Fear. Things might not go exactly the way you’d planned, but as long as you’ve done your preparation, you’ll be able roll with it and keep your players on their toes all the way from Peking to Tibet, and wherever else they might end up along the way! I hope you, and they, enjoy the journey. Lynne The Children of Fear is out now at Chaosium.com in full color hardcover and special leatherette edition, and PDF. Also available at DriveThruRPG. What the Critics Say about The Children of Fear "Obviously a labor of love, and definitely promising to take a place alongside Masks of Nyarlathotep and Horror on the Orient Express as one of the greats of Call of Cthulhu." — Never Read the Latin. "Another campaign you are going to want... Loaded with hand-outs, pre-generated characters, new monsters, new spells, and a ton of resources, The Children of Fear is more evidence that Chaosium has cracked the code on how to make a massive, sprawling campaign accessible."— Andrew Logan Montgomery. "A gem and an instant classic... unreservedly recommended." — Paul St John Mackintosh. "A fantastic campaign, full of twists and more than a few gut punches. Hardy has struck a fine balance between crafting an experience ready to play as written and allowing Keepers the chance to storycraft to their own tastes." — The Gaming Gang.

Ecclesiasticus 38:24-25: The wisdom of the scribe depends on the opportunity of leisure; only the one who has little business can become wise. How can one become wise who handles the plough, and who glories in the shaft of a goad, who drives oxen and is occupied with their work, and whose talk is about bollocks?

A Secret and an Ancient Evil When the Wood Lord Rohir Oaklimb learned that the Sun Domers had failed to awaken Ernalda, he shared an important cult secret with his new allies: the Aldryami of the Garden had discovered where their own mother goddess slept. Far underground and by still pool of pallid water, Aldrya was hidden in a thicket of ghostly trees. The hiding place was deep, deep beneath the site known as the Devil’s Playground in the Pavis Rubble. The elves feared to go there, for their visions foretold that their Great Seed was watched over by an ancient, intensely malignant presence. But together with their Sun Domer allies, perhaps they could quest together like High King Elf and Yelmalio had in the Great Darkness. Perhaps everyone could be saved by rekindling a connection to Aldrya herself as the primal source of sustenance? When Rohir Oaklimbs's description was relayed to Gaumata the Seer he realized that this was the evil place that had long haunted his own dreams. Searching through the temple archives with Temple Librarian Hector the Wise, Gaumata learned of an ill-fated expedition to the Devil's Playground, many years before*. The sole survivor was a Light Priest, one Taleo Lumine, now an aged and blind hermit in one of the temple’s retirement towers. Although it was now the middle of the night, Gaumata ordered Taleo be brought before him immediately. The high priest's attendants hurried to the retirement tower in the temple grounds. Shining a lantern through the grate in the tower's door, they were shocked to see furtive movement inside, instead of a solitary hermit at rest. Fumbling with the key, they heard sounds of violence and a stifled groan; casting a light spell revealed two masked figures were throttling the old man. Forcing the door open, the attendants rushed inside to find Taleo Lumine dead and his masked assassins escaping through the tower's open roof. An alarm was called but the killers disappeared into the night. Searching through the blind priest's meagre effects found nothing. But hidden on the back panel of his oblation stand Hector discovered ominous scratchings. Where lies the flesh of the Devil,
 The foulest part of all,
 That sees through the flesh of every evil, And watches through the parting pall? Long ago with sightless eyes, Taleo Lumine had etched these words, and below them the image of a great pallid eye. Marks on the wood showed he must have spent endless hours tracing the markings over and over with his fingertips, reliving the horrors and remembering his shame. From all this, Gaumata and Hector reached a grim conclusion: the still pool beneath the Devil’s Playground was none other than the Eye of Wakboth, a fragment of the devil itself, torn from its face when battling Storm Bull in the Gods War.* *See 'The Devil's Playground' in RQ Classic's Big Rubble: The Deadly City. It's possible IYG Taleo returned to the Devil's Playground with a group of adventurers (player characters) as per that scenario, seeking to atone for his failures and cowardice the first time he was there. In which case if he survived the second visit, he returned to his tower. If he didn't make it back, the Moon Masks off the unfortunate new hermit resident in the tower anyway, get surprised the same way, and Taleo's etchings are still found.

By Lynne Hardy, Call of Cthulhu associate editor and author of The Children of Fear: A 1920s Campaign Across Asia. Getting on with the Campaign You’re almost there! You’ve done the groundwork, you’ve had Session Zero, you know who the investigators are. The first actual gaming session is on its way. So what else do you need to do? It may all seem a bit overwhelming now that you’re ready to begin playing in earnest, but the key thing to remember is that you only need to be a few steps ahead of the players each week. From all the effort you’ve put in so far, you know what the overall plot is, who the baddies are, and what they’re up to, but you don’t need to know absolutely every single detail of what’s going on in the bigger picture each time you sit down at the gaming table. Concentrate on what’s important for this session, while keeping everything else in the back of your mind (or in your notebook), just in case. Session Goals Think sensibly about how much you’re likely to achieve in a single session. Prep a bit more than you think you might get through, as some sessions may move more quickly than you anticipate. It isn’t a problem if you prep more than you use, though, as the opposite is also true! You can never entirely predict what will catch your players’ fancy and what they’ll spend their time investigating. Let them set their own pace. Of course, if they’re really faffing about and making no progress, feel free to have something happen that encourages them to get a move on! Remember when you made bullet point notes about the set pieces and important revelations in each chapter? It’s time to revisit the one you need for this session. Read over your notes, then read over the chapter again, this time paying close attention to the key characters the investigators need to meet and the key pieces of information they need to get for them to reach those set pieces or important revelations. Are there any changes you need to make to accommodate what you discussed in Session Zero? Is there anything you could tweak to personalise it for the investigators? For example, look at the investigators’ backstories for information you can use to help decide what they see during Mr. Bazaz-Wain’s slideshow (Visions in the Dark, page 40). Do any of the suggestions on page 40 work well with something on a particular investigator’s sheet, or is there something more personal you can draw upon to intrigue and confound them? That’s certainly what I did during playtesting, and tailoring things like this to your investigators helps to make your game unique. It also shows your players that you’re interested in collaborating with them in telling this story and that their input is important to how it will develop. Next: Have Maps and Handouts Handy; Onwards to an epic journey of intrigue and horror!

2 Peter 3:8

Alliance with the Elves Shortly after the Count and his heroquesters returned from the Old Sun Dome a lone elf from Pavis arrived, parched and weary. Clad in copper armour, the wood lord Rohir Oaklimb* had heard the call for the Last Light. Rohir brought news of how the Aldryami of the Pavis Garden were suffering terribly. Their mother goddess Aldrya too was lost to them, and everything in the Garden lay enfeebled or dormant. Taking advantage of their weakened state, the trolls of the Rubble had gleefully devastated great swathes of elvish territory, forcing the Aldryami to retreat back to little more than a small area around their sacred Shanasse tree on the summit of Green Hill. The elves were grateful when Haloric Glowbrow, Light Captain of Pavis, brought his Sunspear Guards to help drive the invaders back, enforcing the mythic ties of Yelmalio and High King Elf striving together in the Darkness. From their camp in Angle Fort, atop the ruins of Yelmalio Hill, Haloric launched a daring midnight assault on Troll Bridge. The elves’ chief tormentor Ziolan Onge, Queen of the Loricek Clan, and a host of her Zorak Zoran bodyguards were killed in the battle. Swearing bloody vengeance, the Death Lord Lorgzang Redeye escaped over the bridge with the remnants of the Darkdemon Regiment. Rohir used the break in the fighting to slip out of the Rubble and make his way to Sun County. *one of the Aldrya characters from Rune Masters! Rohir Oaklimb's write-up in the restored character descriptions says that he originates from "the forests on the Storm Hills’ hillsides" in Sartar, so I'm going to say he's an adventurous elf who was on a mission to the Pavis Garden when the Windstop hit.

All Chaosium HeroQuest RPG titles – print and PDF – will be removed from sale one month from today (July 15). "Last year we announced the transfer of the HeroQuest trademark from Moon Design Publications to Hasbro. As part of that change of ownership we were able to continue selling our HeroQuest RPG products for a time, but that period comes to an end next month. These titles will be officially out-of-print permanently, so if you would like to make a purchase at Chaosium.com or DriveThruRPG please do so while you can!", said Chaosium head of licensing Michael O'Brien. In April 2020, Moon Design Publications published the Questworlds System Reference Document (SRD) so independent publishers could use the HeroQuest RPG core rules system for other game worlds and settings. "In due course we will be rebadging and rereleasing our HeroQuest RPG line of products as Questworlds. The rules themselves will remain unchanged", said Michael O'Brien. For more about Questworlds, the rules and prep-lite RPG system that facilitates beginning play easily, and resolving conflicts in play quickly, see: https://questworlds.chaosium.com HeroQuest RPG products at Chaosium.com HeroQuest RPG products at DriveThruRPG

By Lynne Hardy, Call of Cthulhu associate editor and author of The Children of Fear: A 1920s Campaign Across Asia. Session Zero What do I mean by “Session Zero”? Well, it’s when you and your players get together to set the ground rules and expectations for your game and create the investigators you’re going to use for the campaign—if you’re not using the pre-generated characters provided. Session Zeros are very helpful as they make sure everyone is on the same page and knows what they’re letting themselves in for. If you’ve played together as a group for years, you may be well aware of exactly what sort of things your players are comfortable with, but it’s never wise to make assumptions.The Children of Fear deals with some pretty dark subject matter (Mature Content Warning, page 7), so use your Session Zero to confirm that everyone is okay with that. You don’t need to go into a lot of detail, just a broad overview: death, corpses, colonialism, potential sexual content, etc. Consent is very important in this game (Consent is Everything, page 217), so always make sure you have it.If there are elements your players would rather avoid, having Session Zero means you now have time to adjust any plot points or encounters you need to to make sure your players (and you!) don’t get any unpleasant out-of-character surprises during the game. It’s much easier to do it beforehand than having to adjust on the fly at the table, although you may still need to do that on occasion. Tools for a Safe Gaming Table There are a lot of tools that can help you maintain a safe gaming table. An overview of some of them can be found on the No More Damsels Table Tools page. Given the nature of this campaign, I recommend you have a system in place in case your Session Zero doesn’t pick up on something that could later cause an issue for you or your players.Besides establishing ground rules, incorporating an investigator creation session into your Session Zero is a really useful thing to do. It allows the players to work together to build a complimentary set of investigators, even if in-character they may not have met yet. It allows you, as Keeper, to guide them in developing strong hooks to bring their investigators into the campaign and, just as importantly, stay there. It can help the players get a firmer picture in their mind’s eye as to the period and the location the campaign is taking place in, and it helps you to identify and correct any misunderstandings before they become set in stone.Having said that, if someone does create an investigator during Session Zero then decides after the first session or two that it isn’t working for them, let them create a new one now they have a much better understanding of what’s going on. Making someone stick with playing a character who they feel has nothing to contribute isn’t going to encourage them to keep coming back to your table. Be considerate, be helpful, and try to facilitate everyone’s enjoyment of the game however you can. Have a good read of the Investigator Motivations section (page 17) before Session Zero, as there’s a lot of information in there on appropriate occupations and potential ways of hooking investigators into the plot. Of course, your players will undoubtedly come up with some cool ones of their own! And In the Know (page 18) contains a list a useful skills, in case your players aren’t sure where best to spend their occupational and personal interest skill points. Next: Getting On With The Campaign

NEW HORRORS IN THE OLD SUN DOME Having gathered their new allies, the Last Light heroquesters journeyed to the Old Sun Dome, wondering what horrors awaited them. They found the ruins there swarming with vengeful wraiths and the ghosts of Sun Folk who had died of hunger. Entering the blackened temple, a host of undead assailed them: the animated remains of yet others who had starved, driven at them by demons with scorpion whips. After battling their way through the zombies to the vault, Count Solanthos himself used his fabled iron pike to slay the great horned wolf guarding the sleeping woman lying half-concealed in the gloom. But, before the heroquesters could go to her aid, the woman rose of her own accord. Stepping into the light, they saw that she was not the missing priestess Penta after all, and – just as in Gaumata’s dream – she was garbed in red. In her arms the mysterious woman cradled a brass jar, which she held towards them. She smiled, and removed the stopper. The jar rattled for a moment, and then, with a great discordant dry-throated roar, out of the jar emerged Daga, the desiccating god of drought. As the deathly spectre grew before them, Invictus caught sight of the crumpled form of his wife Penta in a dark corner. There she lay, half-buried in a mound of dead earth. Yelmalio in the Darkness bled out the last of his fire power into Ernalda to awaken her, and Invictus could do the same. But between husband and wife stood the red woman. Before he could reach Penta, the stranger caught his eye. The Light Captain tried to resist, but was beguiled. For the others, the encounter ended abruptly. With a blast of scouring dust, Daga suddenly swept out of the vault in a blinding whirlwind. At the same moment there was a vivid pulse of crimson light and the red woman suddenly vanished, taking Invictus with her. The empty brass jar clattered on the floor. The reason for the Red Witch’s sudden departure became clear moments later, when the dog-headed god Jajagappa and his pack suddenly swarmed into the crypt, seeking to drag the Yelmalion heroquesters to Hell. Flying in on Windwhistler’s back through the crack in the dome, Belvani swooped to rescue the comatose Penta. He also snatched up the brass jar. Windwhistler bore Penta and soared out of the temple to safety. Meanwhile the Count, his Light Sons, and their allies successfully fought off Jajagappa, proving they were worthy of the strongest god of light to live in the Darkness. The heroes left the dog-headed Hunter of Souls and his Hell Hounds to gorge themselves on the undead infesting the ruins. They returned to the new Sun Dome, which now shone with its own brilliance. But everyone knew the famine would still continue, as they had failed to awaken the Earth Mother. And now Daga freely stalked the land. It was a small mercy that thanks to Belvani and Windwhistler Penta Goldbreath was at least safe, though she remained in a deep sleep. *** The next morning, Invictus found himself awake in the bed of Marusa, the secretive Lunar priestess who arrived in Pavis with the new governor. The Light Captain fled the city in shame and humiliation.

By Lynne Hardy, Call of Cthulhu associate editor and author of The Children of Fear: A 1920s Campaign Across Asia. First Things First It may sound obvious, but read through the whole book to get a good idea of what’s going on before you try to run it. This campaign has quite a few moving parts, and having an idea of the overarching plot and major characters gives you a baseline from which to develop your game. During this reading, I suggest having a notebook beside you (or whatever equipment you usually use to make notes) so that you can jot down key points, thoughts, and queries, along with any other notes you feel you need as you go. As you’re reading through, questions to think about for your campaign: Is your version of The Children of Fear going to be a classic game or a pulp one? Whichever rules set you choose, make sure you’re comfortable with it before you start running the game. Make a note of any special rules you might need so you can refer to them quickly when the time comes. Is your version of The Children of Fear going to be firmly rooted in the Cthulhu Mythos, are you going for a more occult storyline, or is it going to involve a fairly even mix of both? If you are leaning heavily into the Mythos, who’s behind everything? (Keeper Considerations, page 15) Do you want to decide up front who that is, or would you rather wait and see what develops through play, taking into account your players’ ideas, likes, and dislikes? What key pieces of background information do you need to know to help you run this campaign? Jotting down a few bullet point notes about the various factions and their history and motivations can be quite handy and you never know when you might want or need to refer to them. What are the big set pieces that the players will take part in, or the important revelations they’ll discover? Make bullet point notes to help you remember key information about each one, but don’t go overboard on that just yet—for now, you’re still just interested in the overview, not the nitty-gritty. That comes later. Are there any bits that don’t quite make sense to you? Is there some additional reading you could do to help you out with these? Has anyone posted anything about this on an online forum, like BRP Central? Which bits really appeal to you, or that you know your players will get a real kick out of? Could you enhance them to really personalise your game? Is there anything you’re not sure your players will enjoy? What do you need to do to fix that? If you don’t know, then make use of a Session Zero to find out. Is there anything you feel less confident about running as it’s written? What changes could you make to help you feel more confident about using it? Next: Session Zero and Tools for a Safe Gaming Table

THE LAST LIGHT HEROQUEST The Last Light heroquest emulates Yelmalio’s grim and tenacious survival in the Greater Darkness, and is only performed at times of the gravest existential peril. The Last Light has helped Sun County endure various trials and torments during the terrible Solitude of Testing period (1200 – 1575). The heroquest was last performed in the reign of Count Skindilli Longlegs (1439-1458), of whom the Light List says, “drove away Daga and made slaves of the Storm Bull men.” Although an entire community can take part, the lead participant must have completed at least the Sacred Time version of the Hill of Gold heroquest, where Yelmalio is disarmed by Orlanth, and then ambushed by Zorak Zoran, who steals his fire powers. In most cases this would be the Count*. Stations of the Last Light Heroquest The Son of the Sun falls and bleeds out his life-giving heat, but his wounds do not deter his struggle in the Darkness as he girds his strength and fortitude. He joins with allies to fight against the relentless approach of chaos. The elves will be one, and there will be others, but one friend is false that only later Truth can reveal. He fights off those who would drag him to hell like his father and becomes the Last Light, the strongest god of light to live in the Darkness. He finds his wife Ernalda**, the earth mother who was lost in the darkness, and stands guard over her while she sleeps. The false friend is revealed and he is wounded again, bleeds out the last of his firepower into Ernalda, and that helps warm her enough to be awakened. He survives the Darkness, and watches over the ruins of the world until he greets the rise of his father, the Sun, at the start of time. *a leader who has gone on a pilgrimage to the actual Hill of Gold in Vanch itself greatly improves the chances of success and enhances outcomes. **this can be any other earth goddess who has gone to sleep, e.g. Esrola, Eiritha, Aldrya.

*Formerly known as Cathea Silverhair (see 'The Raid on Yelorna' scenario in RQ Classic's Big Rubble: The Deadly City), somehow in her adventures this Yelornan came into possession of a fabled ancient treasure, a so-called “Yelmalio Helm”. After attaining Star Maiden rank she took to wearing the magnificent helmet, hence her new nickname, “Goldenhelm.” The helmet is fashioned from pure gold and is engraved with solar symbols. Its faceplate depicts a handsome bearded man (Yelmalio himself); as this is somewhat incongruous on a unicorn virgin, Cathea tends to keep the visor open. The Yelmalio Helm's properties are outlined in 'The Raid on Yelorna' scenario, and @M Helsdon, author of The Armies and Enemies of Dragon Pass has further described the Yelmalio Helm here: "The Yelmalio Helm is fashioned from solid gold and is engraved with Solar symbols. Only a very few of these Golden Age artefacts exist. The faceplate depicts a handsome bearded man said to be Yelmalio himself. The faceplate slides up into the top of the helmet."

THE LAST LIGHT HEROQUEST AND AN UNEXPECTED ALLY In Sea Season the spring melt in the Rockwoods normally brings the Zola Fel back to full flow. In the year of the Great Winter though, the river had slowed to little more than a fitful trickle. The Sun Domers hoped the Zola Fel was ready to forgive them for their attack on the Cradle, but it proved impossible even to commence the River Ritual in the few stagnant pools that remained. With no prospect of a new harvest, the new high priest Gaumata called the Yelmalio cult leadership and community to announce a desperate measure. He foresaw that only by emulating their god Yelmalio’s grim and lonely endurance in the Darkness could the People of the Sun hope to survive the crisis. For the first time since the Solitude of Testing, Sun County gathered to support their leaders in the heroquest of the Last Light. As in the myth, the Great Sun Dome Temple became a bastion, attracting to it allies who could aid in the struggle. Some were expected, such as their Light Khan kin from among the nomads, and the Star Maiden Cathea Goldenhelm*, but others were a surprise. One such unexpected ally was the wyrm Windwhistler, said to be the last living worshipper of the Sun Dragon. Vega Goldbreath reminded Count Solanthos of how the Last Light myth speaks of the false friend. She urged him to drive the heretical creature away. The Count was set to do so, until Lord Belvani told him that the wyrm brought interesting news. When lured to the Sun lands Windwhistler first went to Old Sun Dome; this was the true temple in the days long ago when he dwelled in these parts. Back then it was a place of vibrant dragon worship, but Windwhistler was surprised to now find it shunned and deserted. Peering in through the cracked dome, Windwhistler spied a woman curled on the flagstones below; sleeping or possibly dead, the wyrm could not tell. Before he could investigate further Windwhistler said he was driven away by evil spirits. Frantic with concern for his abducted wife, Invictus the light captain urged the count to depart for the Old Sun Dome without delay. But Gaumata shared Vega’s distrust of the wyrm. He cast a divination, and saw what Wind Whistler saw – though to Gaumata the sleeping figure seemed more like an alluring woman in red than a matronly priestess like the missing Penta. As a speaker of Truth, the high priest voiced his doubts, but in the end Count Solanthos was swayed by his favorite Belvani, and so Windwhistler was permitted to join them. Gathering their new allies, the Yelmalio heroquesters made ready to journey to the Old Sun Dome...

By Lynne Hardy, Call of Cthulhu associate editor and author of The Children of Fear: A 1920s Campaign Across Asia. So, you’ve taken the plunge and got hold of a copy of The Children of Fear... Firstly: thank you! Secondly: it’s quite a hefty campaign, and if you’ve not tackled something this size before, you might be feeling a little bit daunted right now. Or you might not! Either way, the point of this five-part series is to take you through some steps to get yourself ready for diving into this whopping great adventure; steps that can also be applied to any other large campaign you plan to tackle with your players. Before we get to those steps though, let’s deal with a question I’ve been asked a few times: "Is this campaign just for experienced Keepers?" The answer is No, it isn’t, although it may take you a little bit more work to prepare for if this is your first big campaign. The early chapters are quite “gentle” so you can practice your Keepering skills, before getting more complex the further through the campaign you go. I’ve tried to make sure that there’s lots of support and advice throughout the book for less experienced Keepers, but it’s unlikely that I’ll have covered every situation that’s going to crop up as you play. You’ll be fine, though. As always, if there’s anything you don’t feel confident about tackling, adjust it until you are or skip it altogether. This is your campaign now! You certainly have my blessing to do whatever you need to do to it to make it work for you and your players—as long as you’re enjoying it and having fun, then it’s doing what it was created to do and that makes me happy, too. Next: First Things First

THE CHILDREN OF FEAR - our new campaign is out now in full color hardcover! Developed over four years of meticulous research, consultations, and playtesting, The Children of Fear is Lynne Hardy's epic, multi-part campaign for Call of Cthulhu. The scenarios within explore myths and legends of Central Asia and Northern India. USD$52.99, includes PDF. https://www.chaosium.com/the-children-of-fear-hardcover What the Critics Say: "Unreservedly recommended... a gem and an instant classic." (Paul St John Mackintosh) "This is another campaign you are going to want... Loaded with hand-outs, pre-generated characters, new monsters, new spells, and a ton of resources, The Children of Fear is more evidence that Chaosium has cracked the code on how to make a massive, sprawling campaign accessible." (Andrew Logan Montgomery - Exploring the Otherworlds of Fiction, Magic, and Gaming) "A fantastic campaign, full of twists and more than a few gut punches. Hardy has struck a fine balance between crafting an experience ready to play as written and allowing Keepers the chance to storycraft to their own tastes." (The Gaming Gang) "A huge and beautiful undertaking... definitely promising to take a place alongside Masks of Nyarlathotep and Horror on the Orient Express as one of the greats of Call of Cthulhu." (Never Read the Latin) nb: currently available at Chaosium.com from our US, UK, and EU warehouses. CAN and AUS to follow.

UNENDING WINTER When the Lunar Governor Sor Eel was recalled to Dragon Pass early in the new year (1622)*, most of the hungry army went with him. While this would mean less mouths to feed in Prax, before leaving Sor Eel's soldiers requisitioned all the food they could lay their hands on. Count Solanthos rebuffed Sor Eel’s attempts at a levy in Sun County, but most of Pavis County and virtually all of the Grantlands were picked clean by the departing Lunar troops, causing great privation and suffering. Down the length of the River of Cradles cold and hungry refugees from the countryside fled to the major centers, compounding the problems for the civic authorities. In Pavis, whereas before the Teelo Norri kitchen welcomed all comers, the newly-arrived Lunar governor, Halcyon Var Enkorth, insisted those seeking food relief must prove their names were recorded in the official paper lists. Even then they only received a tiny millet cake that seemed to be mostly sawdust, though it was said the governor had brought tremendous quantities of food with him from the Heartlands. Certainly throughout the crisis Halcyon and his entourage never stopped looking sleek and satisfied. The Sun Dome Temple was inundated with starving Grantlanders seeking sanctuary, who by custom could not be turned away. Those refugees who made it to Corflu were bluntly informed by the Lunar garrison that they had no food to spare. This forced many in desperation to take passage with the Vadeli, the only seafarers to visit the port during the Windstop. At least by now the nomad allies of Pavis and the Sun Dome were bringing in some provisions from the Wastes, though they refused to bring their herds back within reach of the dead air. But this was still not enough food to stave off impending mass starvation in the settled lands of the Zola Fel valley. *The people of Pavis might be surprised to learn Sor Eel's recall had nothing whatsoever to do with his failure to capture the Cradle. Sor Eel's ouster came because the Red Emperor elevated Tatius the Bright to Governor-General of Dragon Pass as reward for his great victory at Whitewall, and Tatius quickly moved to purge and replace all the friends and kin of his predecessor, Fazzur Wideread. (GSB, p36.)

Here John Wick talks about some upcoming content for the 7th Sea RPG, as well as what work goes into balancing and organising the 7th Sea line. James Coquillat is the interviewer for our 'Chaosium Interviews' series.

Later on, during the Time of Two Counts, a traditional regiment of right-handed hoplites commanded by Countess Vega faces up against their heterodox left-handed hoplite opposition, led by anti/Count Belvani. This clash, which happens near Angle Fort in the Big Rubble, is first time the two rival counts and their forces come into direct and bloody conflict with each other, Templar against Templar.