Tabletop RPGs and the Cthulhu Mythos

Why this dispatch exists

The Miskatonic Expedition is not a game publisher, yet half our inbound correspondence cites Call of Cthulhu before it cites The Call of Cthulhu. That is not failure; it is how the twenty-first century meets the 1928 ocean. Hundreds of supplements, scenarios, quick-starts, and convention one-shots now bear names that also appear in our archive — Dunwich, Innsmouth, R'lyeh, Yig, Tatters of the King — and readers arrive asking which booklet is "canon."

This dispatch answers a simpler question: how to use RPG material without mistaking it for Lovecraft's text. Roleplaying books are collaborative fiction engines. They reward investigators, sanity points, and dice. Lovecraft rewarded loneliness, irrecoverable sanity, and prose. When you search the wiki index for a scenario title, you will land here, then on the archive dossier for the entity or place, then — if you still want dice — back to your table with eyes open.

We list major game lines, not every PDF. The index of Fandom's seven thousand pages is largely supplements; we refuse to write seven thousand scenario summaries. We give you taxonomy, reading order, and hazard flags so you do not cite Achtung! Cthulhu as evidence in a paper on Providence.

Call of Cthulhu and its orbit

Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium, 1981 onward) is the default commercial language of mythos gaming. Its Basic Roleplaying roots — percentile skills, sanity loss, investigation over combat — shaped what millions think "Lovecraftian" means: slow burns, newspaper clippings, tomes that cost Sanity, endings where the cult wins off-screen.

Core books and what to read first

The Keeper Rulebook is the system; Investigator Handbook is tone. For fiction alignment, pair any campaign with archive records: /archive/the-call-of-cthulhu, /archive/the-shadow-over-innsmouth, /archive/the-dunwich-horror. Masks of Nyarlathotep is a globe-trotting classic; treat its Egypt and Kenya chapters as game fiction unless you verify names against primary sources.

Editions and drift

7th edition clarified chase rules and modernized layout; older scenarios remain playable with conversion notes. Pulp Cthulhu bends tone toward two-fisted action — fun, but not Lovecraft's voice. Cthulhu Invictus, Cthulhu Dark Ages, Cthulhu by Gaslight, and Cthulhu Americana are historical reskins; their value is atmosphere, not biography. When a supplement titles itself H.P. Lovecraft's…, check the copyright page: usually pastiche, not Howard Phillips himself.

Delta Green, Trail, and indie lines

Delta Green began as a modern conspiracy mod, then became its own horror engine: secret wars, government complicity, violence that feels bureaucratic rather than gothic. It intersects the mythos where Mi-Go, Ghouls, and Nyarlathotep serve Cold War nightmares. Read /archive/mi-go before you run Operation SUMMER BREEZE or any scenario that treats fungoid colonists as field assets.

Trail of Cthulhu (Pelgrane) uses the GUMSHY investigation structure — clues point forward, sanity is a resource you spend for truth. Its tone is literary noir; excellent for one-shots based on actual Lovecraft stories if the Keeper trims mechanics to match plot.

Indie lines — Ten Candles, Cthulhu Hack, Lamentations of the Flame Princess hybrids, Mothership modules with mythos skin — change scale and lethality. The archive does not catalogue each; we note they exist so you do not confuse a 32-page zine with a primary text. Convicts & Cthulhu, Achtung! Cthulhu, and Cthulhu Eternal belong in the "expanded wartime/pulp" bucket: enjoyable, loud, and poor witnesses in footnotes unless your thesis is reception studies.

Sanity mechanics vs. cosmic horror

Games quantify Sanity because players need a meter. Lovecraft quantified nothing; his characters broke in paragraphs. The difference matters for scholars: a scenario that says you lose 1d10 SAN for seeing Cthulhu is a rule, not a description of /archive/cthulhu. Use the rule at your table; use the dossier in your essay.

Running games without flattening the mythos

Keepers who assign mythos gods elemental alignments or moral teams (common in post-Derleth supplements) should read /journal/lovecraft-literary-circle and /cthulhu-mythos before defending those choices as "what Lovecraft meant." The Expedition separates Lovecraftian core from posthumous expansion precisely because games often cement the expansion.

When players become readers

The best outcome of a campaign is curiosity: investigators look up Pnakotic fragments, read The Colour out of Space, visit /library. Worst outcome: they quote a scenario's invented spell in a forum as if Abdul Alhazred wrote it. This dispatch is the bridge — dice on Friday, primary text on Sunday, archive cross-links forever. Record your campaign's inventions in a private journal; do not merge them into wiki pages that future students will mistake for 1928 fact.

How wiki scenario titles map here

Wiki product index (225 cluster titles)

The scraped Fandom index lists hundreds of RPG and board-game products. Each title below redirects to this dispatch; use the archive for entities and places, not for stat blocks.

#### Achtung! Cthulhu (3)

- Achtung! Cthulhu (Call of Cthulhu/Savage Worlds) - Achtung! Cthulhu: Investigator's Guide to the Secret War - Achtung! Cthulhu: Keeper's Guide to the Secret War

#### Arkham Horror (9)

- Arkham Horror - Arkham Horror Fiction - Arkham Horror Premium Figures - Arkham Horror Second Edition Core Set - Arkham Horror Third Edition - Arkham Horror: Final Hour - Arkham Horror: The Card Game - Arkham Horror: The Roleplaying Game - Arkham Horror: The Roleplaying Game core rulebook

#### Call of Cthulhu (14)

- Call of Cthulhu (Role-Playing Game) - Call of Cthulhu (Video Game) - Call of Cthulhu Keeper Decks - Call of Cthulhu Keeper Screen - Call of Cthulhu Supplements - Call of Cthulhu, End Time - Call of Cthulhu: Beyond the Mountains of Madness - Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth - Call of Cthulhu: Destiny's End - Call of Cthulhu: Prisoner of Ice - Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game - Call of Cthulhu: The Card Game Core Set - Call of Cthulhu: The Coloring Book - Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land

#### Convicts & Cthulhu (22)

- Convicts & Cthulhu - Convicts & Cthulhu (supplement) - Convicts & Cthulhu String-A-Line 1: New Dawn Fades - Convicts & Cthulhu: Muster 1: The Turbulent Mason - Convicts & Cthulhu: Muster 2: The Master of Convicts - Convicts & Cthulhu: The Misery Archive - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 01: Night Terrors - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 02: Tricolour Terror - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 03: Criminal Enterprise - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 04: The Vanishing Ensign - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 05: The Damned & The Degenerate - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 06: Night of the Convict Dead - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 07: Seams of Peril - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 08: Gentleman Convicts - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 09: Orphan School Horror - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 10: The Doom That Came to Five Dock - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 11: The Dispensatory of Doctor Macdead - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 12: Fallen Stars - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 13: The Thirteenth Convict - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 14: Hark, Now Hear the Sailors Cry - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 15: The Death Knells - Convicts & Cthulhu: Ticket of Leave 16: The Devil to Play

#### Delta Green (9)

- Delta Green (setting) - Delta Green (supplement) - Delta Green: Alien Intelligence - Delta Green: Countdown - Delta Green: Dark Theatres - Delta Green: Inpossible Landscapes - Delta Green: Need to Know - Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game - Delta Green: The Way it Went Down

#### Lovecraft criticism & editions (4)

- H. P. Lovecraft and Lovecraft Criticism: An Annotated Bibliography: Supplement, 1980-84 - H. P. Lovecraft's Call of Cthulhu - H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu - H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu for Beginning Readers

#### Other Cthulhu lines (23)

- Cthulhu by Gaslight - Cthulhu by Gaslight: Investigators' Guide - Cthulhu by Gaslight: Keepers' Guide - Cthulhu Eternal - Cthulhu Eternal Australian Aeons 1: Thou Didst Let Fall - Cthulhu Eternal Australian Aeons 2: Dead Flowers - Cthulhu Eternal Australian Aeons 3: Red in Tooth & Claw - Cthulhu Eternal Australian Aeons 4: Known Unknowns - Cthulhu Eternal Downtime Events Generator - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: Age of Revolutions - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: Age of Sail - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: Classical Era - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: Cold War Era - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: Future - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: Jazz Age - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: Medieval - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: Modern Age - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: Victorian Era - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: World War I - Cthulhu Eternal SRD: World War II - Cthulhu Invictus - Cthulhu Invictus (Monograph) - Cthulhu Now (Call of Cthulhu)

#### Other tabletop & supplements (139)

- 1920s Investigator's Companion - 7th Edition Cthulhu Invictus Screen - A Place to Call Home Quick Play Demo - Apocthulhu Scenario Resource Pack: A Yellow and Unpleasant Land - Apocthulhu Scenario Resource Pack: Kick the Can - Arkham (Call of Cthulhu) - Arkham Sanitarium (Call of Cthulhu) - Aspirations of Ascension (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Before the End: A Prelude to the RPG - Beyond the Threshold (Mansions of Madness) - Blood on the Altar: Mythos Pack (Arkham Horror) - Collect Call of Cthulhu - Dark Tales: The Call of Cthulhu: A Graphic Novel - Dead Light (Call of Cthulhu) - Dead of Night (Arkham Horror Expansion) - Denizens of the Underworld (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - DREADCRAWLS One: Threatening Scenarios - Eldritch Horror - Eldritch Horrors: Dark Tales - Eldritch Tales (roleplaying game) - For the Greater Good (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Further Tales of Cthulhu Invictus - Harlem Unbound: Keeper Screen - Harvey Walters Investigator Starter Deck (Arkham Horror LCG) - Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla (roleplaying game) - Hudson & Brand, Inquiry Agents of the Obscure (supplement) - In Memory of Day (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - In the Dread of Night (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Initiations of the Favored (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Innsmouth Horror Deluxe Expansion (Arkham Horror) - Investigators Unveiled - Jacqueline Fine Investigator Starter Deck (Arkham Horror LCG) - Journey to Unknown Kadath (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Keeper of Dreams - Keeper of the Cage - Keeper of the Moon-Lens - Keeper of the Yellow Sign - Keeper Tips: Collected Wisdom on Running Games - Kingsport (Call of Cthulhu supplement) - Kingsport Horror Deluxe Expansion (Arkham Horror) - Leagues of Cthulhu (supplement) - Legs (Call of Cthulhu) - List of Delta Green Publications - Littlest Lovecraft: The Call of Cthulhu - Lost in Time and Space: Mythos Pack (Arkham Horror) - Mansions of Madness - Masks of Nyarlathotep (Eldritch Horror) - Miskatonic Horror Deluxe Expansion (Arkham Horror) - Miskatonic University (2005 Call of Cthulhu supplement) - Miskatonic University (Call of Cthulhu supplement) - Mountains of Madness (Eldritch Horror) - Murmurs of Evil (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Nathaniel Cho Investigator Starter Deck (Arkham Horror LCG) - Perilous Trials (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Punktown (gaming supplement) - Return to the Dunwich Legacy (Arkham Horror) - Screams from Within (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Search for the Silver Key (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Secrets (Call of Cthulhu) - Secrets of Arkham (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Seekers of Knowledge (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Shub-Niggurath: The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young (LARP supplement) - Sleep of the Dead (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Spawn of Madness (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Stella Clark Investigator Starter Deck (Arkham Horror LCG) - Tales of Cthulhu Invictus - Tales of Cthulhu Invictus: Britannia - Terror in Venice (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - That Which Consumes (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The 7th Edition Guide to Cthulhu Invictus - The Antediluvian Dreams (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Black Goat of the Woods (Arkham Horror Expansion) - The Cacophony (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Call of Cthulhu - The Call of Cthulhu (1988 comic book) - The Call of Cthulhu (2005 film) - The Call of Cthulhu (ARTC audio drama) - The Call of Cthulhu (Belarusian collection) - The Call of Cthulhu (DART production) - The Call of Cthulhu (J. Scott Vanlester) - The Call of Cthulhu and Dagon: A Graphic Novel - The Call of Cthulhu and Other Dark Tales - The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories - The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories of Horror - The Call of Cthulhu and Other Stories: Gilded Pocket Edition (Arcturus Ornate Classics) - The Call of Cthulhu and Other Tales of Cosmic Terror (Arcturus Gilded Classics) - The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories - The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Tales - The Casting Call of Cthulhu - The Cthulhu Invictus Companion - The Curse of the Dark Pharaoh (Arkham Horror Expansion) - The Dreamlands (Eldritch Horror) - The Essex County Express: Mythos Pack (Arkham Horror) - The Fall of Delta Green - The Fall of Delta Green (core rulebook) - The Gleaming Spiral (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Great Old Ones (Call of Cthulhu supplement) - The Horror Beneath the Surface (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Hungering Abyss Starter Set (Arkham Horror) - The Investigators of Arkham Horror - The Keeper of Dark Point - The Keeper of Memory - The Keeper of the Gate - The Keeper of the Gate (chapbook) - The Keeper of the Key - The Keeper's Companion - The Key and the Gate (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The King in Yellow (Arkham Horror Expansion) - The Laundry (roleplaying game) - The Lovecraft Library Volume 2: The Call of Cthulhu and Other Mythos Tales - The Lurker at the Threshold (Arkham Horror Expansion) - The Mark of Madness (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Order of the Silver Twilight (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Path to Y'ha-nthlei (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Psychic Investigator - The Repairer of Reputations (Trail of Cthulhu) - The Scarlet Keys: Investigator Expansion - The Sleeper Below (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Spawn of the Sleeper (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Spoken Covenant (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Terror of the Tides (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Thing from the Shore (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Thousand Young (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Trail of Cthulhu - The Trail of Cthulhu (series) - The Twilight Beckons (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - The Vault (Call of Cthulhu) - The Wailer Below (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Twilight Horror (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Under the Keeper of the Key - Under the Pyramids (Eldritch Horror) - Undimensioned and Unseen: Mythos Pack (Arkham Horror) - Verboten! Operation: FAUST (RPG Supplement) - Wake Up Call: A Tale of Eldritch Horror and Real Estate - Wee Weird: The Call of Cthulhu - Where Doom Awaits: Mythos Pack (Arkham Horror) - Whispers in the Dark (Call of Cthulhu LCG) - Winifred Habbamock Investigator Starter Deck (Arkham Horror LCG) - Yellow Dawn (roleplaying game)

#### Trail of Cthulhu (2)

- Trail of Cthulhu - Trail of Cthulhu core rulebook

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