The Well Below the Valley: Player Characters/Session Zero

The Well Below the Valley cover image: A dead tree stands on a field of short grass, against a blank gray sky. Bottom text reads, "A fan-made Call of Cthulhu module."

Table of Contents

As a gamemaster (“Keeper of Arcane Lore,” in Call of Cthulhu parlance [1] ), I design campaigns that are very character-focused, and so this module was written for my players’ four characters. To introduce each of them to the campaign, I designed a “session zero” that would draw them into the mystery, give them some early clues, and teach the players the game system. It was a good way to get players invested early on and establish their connections to the game world. 

(All page numbers refer to the Seventh Edition of the Call of Cthulhu Keeper Rulebook, published 2015 by Chaosium, Inc. I am in no way affiliated with Chaosium or the writers of the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game system. Content notes for this chapter: death, violence, mentions of sexism and racism, some discussion of WWI, and a very brief mention of the Armenian Genocide.)

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The Well Below the Valley: Handouts

The Well Below the Valley cover image: A dead tree stands on a field of short grass, against a blank gray sky. Bottom text reads, "A fan-made Call of Cthulhu module."

Table of Contents

Links to PDF downloads, as well as transcriptions where possible, are provided in each chapter, but all the PDFs can be found here.

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The Well Below the Valley: NPC Profiles

The Well Below the Valley cover image: A dead tree stands on a field of short grass, against a blank gray sky. Bottom text reads, "A fan-made Call of Cthulhu module."

Table of Contents

This is an appendix of sorts where all the NPC profiles will be kept.

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Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Chapter II

Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea cover image: a wide, still river with forested mountain peaks rising on either side, underneath a clouded sky.
In which Eske makes a friend, and his journey continues southward.

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The wind howled across the steppe. I should have been afraid, but I was not aware enough for fear; hunger and cold were my constant and only companions for so long that I had ceased to notice even their presence. I stood and gripped my makeshift spear, my fingers numb and my body shivering. I was accustomed to cold, but I was undernourished and insufficiently clothed. 

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The Well Below the Valley: Introduction

The Well Below the Valley cover image: A dead tree stands on a field of short grass, against a blank gray sky. Bottom text reads, "A fan-made Call of Cthulhu module."

Table of Contents

It is February 13, 1922. Three days ago, Oxford professor of archaeology Emundr Ragnarsson was found dead in a London hotel room. At first, it was assumed that his death was a natural one, but there are too many questions surrounding it. Who has been following the professor around Oxford? What happened on his last field expedition, that was cut short and declared a failure? What does his work have to do with a mysterious blight affecting plants around the country? And how did he drown, miles from the harbor and with no other sources of water nearby? 

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Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea: Chapter I

Beyond the Frost-Cold Sea cover image: a wide, still river with forested mountain peaks rising on either side, underneath a clouded sky.
In which the story begins.

Table of Contents

Listen. Let me tell you a story.

I will tell you of my journey, from the ocean at the end of the world to the mountain of iron, beneath which slept a horror of ages long past.

I will tell you of the daughter of the stargazer, who found me on the northern wastes at the end of my long winter.

I will tell you of the woman who dared to defy the seven gods of the citadel.

And I will tell you of the barefoot prophet, for the man who now sits on the throne of Phyreios is not the same as the one who walked among its people in the days before the cataclysm.

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