Sandy petersens cthulhu mythos (1) 13

or religious quandaries. Learning more about these

story culminates in an awful conclusion, where the

entities should never become humdrum.

heroes meet not the elder things preserved in the ice,

An adventure centered on the Mythos should be put

but the dread things (shoggoths) that wiped out their

together in a style I call “layers of the onion.” The idea

species. This is the end of the story, but clearly it would

is that as the players uncover one layer of dark secrets,

be possible to extend it further.

they expose another. This goes on and on: just as when
an onion is peeled, successive strata appear.

investigate the shoggoth “civilization”, and find out

At first, the players may think that a scenario

that these amoeboid horrors are up to something (the

involves an evil cult-worshiping nobleman or a haunted

fourth layer of the onion). Since shoggoths are not

castle. But as they probe more deeply, you, the game

really movers and shakers, no doubt something even

master, can gradually show them the significance of

worse than shoggoths is directing their efforts. And for

this particular nobleman or haunted castle. As the

what purpose? The destruction of all surface life? The

players decide to find out more information, this leads

return of the star spawn? The formation of a gigantic

to other adventures.

device designed to break the continent free from the

In Lovecraft’s epic “At the Mountains of Madness,”

world’s surface and form a new moon? Who knows?

the characters uncover some odd fossils, excellently

The wheels within wheels keep turning, and the players

preserved and reminiscent of the ancient tales of the

can continue following the tale forever.

Old Ones. The hero and his companion go scouting

Alternatively, they could progress a certain way down

and find what seems to be a huge and complex rock

the stories, and then you, the game master, can switch

formation inside a glacier. When they return to the

to another storyline: a new civilization of nightmare

camp, everyone has been killed, and the “fossils” are

creatures; an ancient tome with unspeakable secrets;

missing. The heroes are horrified and decide to follow

something else altogether. String together Mythos

the trail which leaves camp, headed toward the ice-

concepts and bury the heroes deep in the darkness.

bound rocks. This all occurs in the first layer of the
onion.

The reason for this system of episodic revelation is
because horror, by its nature, is difficult to maintain

They probe deep into the rocks and find tunnels

for a prolonged period of time. This is why horror

under the ice which lead lower and lower. As they chase

movies typically have only short moments of terror,

after the tracks of whoever (or whatever) killed their

interspersed with sections (possibly ominous) in which

companions, they gradually come to realize that it is a

non-horror-based scenes take place. It is also why

true city, not just an unusual formation. Furthermore,

horror novels are never as consistently terrifying as

nonhumanoid entities, whose history is found in

short stories.

carvings on the walls, built the city millions of years
ago. This is the second layer of the onion.

Thus, each time a new layer of the onion is revealed
to your players, there is an opportunity for a new

As the heroes penetrate deeper, and come upon

shock, a new understanding. The players may wish

more and more horrors, they realize that the “fossils”

time to discuss the ramifications (you may or may not

are actual, living (albeit cryogenically-preserved) elder

allow this time, depending on the adventure’s needs),

things. The heroes follow the path anyway, and the

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For instance, a gamemaster could have the heroes