MONOPHOBIA A FEAR OF SOLITUDE AN OPUSCULE OF ADVENTURES FOR LONE INVESTIGATORS IN THE WORLD OF CHAOSIUM’S CALL OF CTHULHU™ Written by Mark Chiddicks and Marcus D. Bone Art by Ashley Jones | Editing by James King UNBOUND PUBLISHING UBB #1001 ©2010 Unbound Publishing Visit us @ www.unboundbook.org Dedication To Tim Wiseman & Ashley Jones – True Avatars of the King in Yellow and all round nice guys to boot! Without you both this would still be nothing but an unrealised dream & In Remembrance of Keith ‘Doc’ Herber - A Master of Adventure who will be missed… Call of Cthulhu is a horror roleplaying game published by Chaosium Inc © 2008 22568 Mission Boulevard #423 Hayward CA 94541-5116 Phone 510-583-1000 Fax 510-583-1101 MONOPHOBIA: A FEAR OF SOLITUDE is an opuscule created by Mark Chiddicks and Marcus D. Bone. In clear credit, Mark Chiddicks is responsible for Madness from the Grave and Robinson Gruesome, while Marcus D. Bone is responsible for Of Grave Concern and the layout & design of this manuscript © 2010. The cover The Cthulhu Scream and artwork Sketch of Ethan Blane are © 2008 Ashley Jones. Eight years in the making, this opuscule would not have been possible without the playtester assistance of Mark Hockey and Darryn Mercer, the editing expertise of James King, and the enthusiastic cheers of various others. About the Authors Mark writes Mark is a transplanted Englishman who moved to New Zealand in the 1990s to be closer to R’lyeh when it rises. He’s been playing Call of Cthulhu since 1984 and is sure it hasn’t affected him at all. He lives in Auckland with his wife, Asenath, and children Wilbur and “the Other”. Marcus writes A Call of Cthulhu fan and gaming enthusiast, Marcus has written, playtested and laid out adventures, campaigns and monographs for Chaosium. Best know as the editor of both DEMONGROUND and The Unbound Book magazines, he continues to write and create his own weird brand of horror. CONTENTS Introduction………………………………………………………1 Vengeance From Beyond…………………………………………4 Of Grave Concern…………………………………………….…15 Robinson Gruesome………………………………………….…33 Appendices Dramatis Personae……………………………………………46 Handouts……………………………………………………...49 Sample Characters…………………………………………….52 - MONOPHOBIA : CALL OF CTHULHU ADVENTURES FOR LONE INVESTIGATORS - INTRODUCTION “When I came upon the horror, I was alone.” – Nathaniel Wingate Peaslee At first glance, the idea of a book of Call of Cthulhu ^ The Haunter of the Dark - Robert Blake’s scenarios written especially for a single player and solo investigation of the Starry Wisdom sect a Keeper may seem a bit of an oddity. Roleplaying, leads to his terrible lonely death. by its very nature, is a group activity, to be played ^ The Thing on the Doorstep - The narrator is with friends and family, and to be enjoyed as much the only one who understands the evil of for its social aspects as it is for the strategy and Asenath Waite, and is forced to take a tactics of the game itself. What’s more, solo desperate lone act to avenge his friend gaming in Call of Cthulhu does lend itself to Edward Derby. insanity; this is a roleplaying game where those ^ The Shadow Over Innsmouth - The unnamed that oppose the Investigators are so powerful and narrator visits the ill-rumoured fishing port alien that surely only a fool would face them alone. alone to discover its dark secret, and his own Nonetheless, an examination of the stories of aquatic heritage. Lovecraft reveals a rich tradition of exactly this ^ The Shadow Out of Time - Nathaniel kind of story. Indeed one could argue that they are Wingate Peaslee has an experience that more typical of Lovecraft than the ‘party’ based nobody can share, and goes into the desert tales such as the Dunwich Horror – which in some alone to find the terrible secret below the ways reads as the archetype of a Call of Cthulhu sands. adventure. Beyond Lovecraft, other authors, such as Bloch and Campbell, also follow this well-established RUNNING SOLO ADVENTURES pattern; the protagonist discovers things that they dare not believe, and it is only when events have There are a number of reasons why you might reached an impossible conclusion that all that can wish to run adventures such as those presented in be done is to leave an account of their experiences this opuscule – from running a one off for a friend for those who might follow - a desperate, final or someone new to the hobby (or Call of Cthulhu), appeal in the hope that somebody might read it through to a sudden need for a scenario when only and… believe! one of your regulars can make a session. Whatever Amongst the classic core stories of the Mythos, the the reason, gaming with a single Investigator is an following tales feature a lone protagonist: interesting and fulfilling experience for all involved. ^ The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - Dr The structure, pace and style of such adventures is very different than normal group play, and it Willett single-handedly uncovers the truth allows both the players and Keeper to explore about Charles Ward and slays the evil situations that might otherwise might be too Joseph Curwen. difficult to expand on in other circumstances. ^ The Whisperer in Darkness - Albert During the writing and playtesting of the Wilmarth alone encounters Akeley and his adventures in this book, a number of aspects alien visitors. became apparent when running stories that focus - 1 - - INTRODUCTION - on a solo investigator. With this in mind, the THE ADVENTURES following suggestions are to help you when running such scenarios. This manuscript contains three adventures. Each is ^ Although all of these adventures have had designed to explore a different aspect of the their level of the threats adjusted to suit solo Mythos, and will push the Investigator to the limit play, it is nonetheless very dangerous to face of their sanity, skill and determination. the Mythos without assistance; injury or ^ As written, each adventure should be able to temporary insanity can easily lead to death be completed in just a single game session, when there’s nobody about to drag you to taking no more than two or three hours to safety. As a Keeper, you should be careful reach a satisfactory conclusion. about presenting a situation where a ^ relatively minor encounter brings an abrupt All are nominally set the 1920s or ‘30s, the end to the story. It is advisable to always be classic era of Call of Cthulhu, although with a prepared to have the monster frightened little rewriting they could easily be set in away by the arrival of a Non-Player other eras. Character (NPC), or force an episode of ^ While no specific location has been temporary insanity of the Investigator which determined for two of the adventures, (the results in them fleeing from the danger. third, Robinson Gruesome, is most definitely ^ There are issues inherent in having just a bound to its location) the imagined setting single player involved in the adventure. It is for these is Arkham or some other Lovecraft possible that a lone player may simply fail to Country site (i.e. Kingsport, Providence or think of something vital to the flow of the Boston). While the location is not vital to narrative, or make decisions that would lead the flow or structure of these adventures, to incorrect conclusions. In such cases, it is the authors do feel that as these scenarios recommended that you allow the use of Idea were specifically designed to reflect the lone rolls (in combination with other skills and protagonist style presented in Lovecraft’s even suggestions from NPCs) to keep the stories, they deserve to be set in a location Investigator on track. worthy of HPL himself. ^ It is likely that you will quickly find that ENGEANCE ROM EYOND running this type of story is literally a V F B change of pace from one with a group. In which a hunt for a stolen book ends Gaming with just a single protagonist moves surprisingly easily, but not without consequences. at a faster pace, and you will probably be When the spirit of a dead occultist haunts the forced to create appropriate scenes on the Investigator in ways that nobody else can see, fly, reacting quickly to the character’s madness beckons, and the only escape seems to lie actions (especially in situations that aren’t in crossing the ultimate threshold. described in the adventure). Players rely heavily on the input from the Game Master This adventure is best suited for an in most forms of roleplaying, and your Investigator with bibliophile bent, be they a descriptions of the events are even more rare book collector, librarian or simple vital in this format; often there is not the entranced by the various Mythos novels. It may time to think ahead – as there is in larger equally be suited to a private investigator or groups, when the players often spend time police officer, as a good detail of detective work discussing their actions and coming to a is required in the opening scenes. consensus. As such you may need to ‘roll The author suggests that it is a rather draining with the punches’ and accept the story as the experience for a prospective protagonists, and player sees it; their imagination and theories that should have at least a POW of 15 and a often make the truth all that more current SAN of 65 or more to see the story interesting when it’s revealed! through. ^ Finally, and above all, you should always Note: The sample character - William strive to give the player a sense of being truly Townsend: Determined Book Collector - has alone in the face of fear.