Five scenarios of Cthulhu Mythos terror designed for new players and keepers!
Chaosium Unveiled: Inside Doors to Darkness
Watch the unveiling video to see the book for yourself. Remember that you get the PDF when getting the physical copy.
What’s Inside?
Doors to Darkness is a collection of five scenarios for Call of Cthulhu. Explore the signature setting of 1920s New England through these tales of eldritch dread designed for brand new Keepers—if you’re new to Call of Cthulhu, this is your next step!
Expert Advice for Keepers
An essay by prolific Call of Cthulhu author Kevin Ross (Down Darker Trails, Masks of Nyarlathotep), details a wide range of hints and tips on running Call of Cthulhu—guidance any Keeper, new or experienced, will find very useful.
The Scenarios
Those who dare to open the doors to darkness will discover just what secrets and dangers lie within the five scenarios!
The Darkness Beneath the Hill - A house renovation in Providence, Rhode Island lures the investigators into ancient earthly secrets.
Genius Loci - The investigators explore the Danvers State Asylum in a desperate attempt to help a friend in need.
Servants of the Lake - Pursuit of a missing friend finds the investigators sequestered in a roadside motel where not all is as it seems.
Ties That Bind - Strange rock formations appear in the fountain of a wealthy Arkham resident, leading to a wellspring of forbidden knowledge.
None More Black - The death of a Miskatonic University student leads the investigators into unsavory neighborhoods and dark business dealings.
Maps, Handouts, & Ready-To-Play Characters
Premium maps and player handouts are provided for each scenario, with both player and Keeper versions (with the secrets!). Additionally, 10 diverse, pregenerated investigators are included, allowing new and returning players to dive straight into the one-shot adventures on game night.
Your Next Steps
If you’ve purchased and played through the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set, then Doors to Darkness is the ideal next step. After that, you can move on to Gateways To Terror to expand your Call of Cthulhu experience.
Gateways to Terror contains three short-play scenarios for Call of Cthulhu, perfect for beginning and experienced players and Keepers alike. Originally, all three—The Necropolis, What's in the Cellar? and The Dead Boarder—were designed as demonstration games to give a taste of the game's core motifs—mystery, investigation, and horror—for those with limited time. The scenarios can be played in as little as one hour or be expanded for slightly longer play. Each comes with four ready-made investigators so you can jump right into the action!
Play online with our Licensed Partners
Do you play on a Virtual Tabletop? Our partners offer products for playing this scenario online.
What The Critics Say
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"The latest, entry-level product in the Call of Cthulhu tabletop RPG... It includes five new scenarios as well as ten diverse and ready to play investigators. If you can’t tell your fhtagn from your mglw'nafh this sounds like a fabulous place to start."
— Polygon, Best Tabletop RPGs of 2017.
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"Where does a new Keeper start from if he has never played Call of Cthulhu before?... All its adventures are straightforward, without complicated subplots, and explore basic principles of the horror genre, while at the same time slowly increasing the difficulty and the interaction with the rules... they are not good just for new Keepers; they work fantastically as one-offs, or in situations with timing considerations (e.g. as events in conventions)."
— Antonios S., RPGNet Review - Doors to Darkness.
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"The subtitle is “Scenarios for Beginning Keepers.” The intention here was to provide Keepers fresh to Call of Cthulhu five scenarios to run with extra training wheels. Even if you’ve been at this a while, I highly recommend this book. Primo stuff here."
— Vintage RPG, An RPG book I have run recently.
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"Doors to Darkness makes for a great jumping on point to Call of Cthulhu for both beginning Keepers and players. The tales within are each easily completed in a couple of gaming sessions at most and make for excellent introductions to Lovecraftian horror roleplaying."
— The Gaming Gang, Call of Cthulhu - Doors to Darkness Reviewed.
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"An impressive way to give a vertical slice of CoC 7e in a tight timeframe..."
— MJRRPG, The Necropolis Review – Call of Cthulhu (Gateways to Terror).
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"There are plenty of other big-ticket scenario collections out there that get a lot of praise, and deservedly so. But let’s not neglect the oft-overlooked Doors to Darkness and remember why it’s beloved of new and seasoned Keepers alike: it’s so damn useful."
— Stygian Muse, Doors To Darkness: Review.
Product Configuration
Physical Product Settings
Is Physical Product: [N]
Has Inventory: [Y]
United States: [Y]
United Kingdom: [Y]
Europe: [Y]
Australia: [Y]
Canada: [N]
Is PDF Available: [Y]
PDF Product Name: [RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha - PDF]
PDF Product Link: [/call-of-cthulhu-keeper-rulebook-7th-ed-hardcover/]
PDF Settings
Has Physical Product: [Y]
Is Physical Available: [Y]
Physical Product Name: [Doors to Darkness - Hardcover]
Physical Product Link: [/doors-to-darkness-hardcover/]
Product Footer
Footer Name:
- ISBN:
- 978-1-56882-437-6
- Page Count:
- 144
- Format:
- Authors:
- Christopher Smith Adair, Glynn Owen Barrass, Brian Courtemanche, Tom Lynch, Kevin Ross, Brian M. Sammons
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Good for a beginner DM
I have been playing one-shots of Call of Cthulhu online for some time now, and decided that I wanted to run one for a group of friends. They chose the scenario Darkness Beneath the Hill from this book, and we had a blast. I'm looking forward to running more of these scenarios in the future!
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TL; DR-Decent intro with some basic Call of Cthulhu adventures. 90%
Ring Side Report-RPG Review of Doors to Darkness Originally posted at www.throatpunchgames.com, a new idea every day! Product-Doors to Darkness System- Call of Cthulhu, 7th Ed. Producer- Chaosium Price- $17.48 here https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/199593/Doors-to-Darkness TL; DR-Decent intro with some basic Call of Cthulhu adventures. 90% Basics- What’s in the basement? Doors to Darkness is a collection of five simple adventures that beginner keepers can bring to the table to introduce Call of Cthulhu to their friends and get new players involved on both sides of the GM screen. Mechanics or Crunch- What’s here is good, but I would like a bit more. The crunch of the adventures (monsters, skill checks, basics of play) are all done well. My one major criticism is there is not a lot of extra information to help newer keepers/game masters learn the ropes. I would like a bit more GM box text to help a new game master run the game. Since the players and the GM are most likely new, that would really help everyone learn exactly what they are doing. Solid work but this book needs a bit more basics explained to the GM. 4/5 Theme or Fluff- This book has some solid stories that may be a bit disjointed. There are five stories that range from snake cults to undead horrors. Nothing is bad and these are excellent introduction stories, but none of these are really connected. It leads to a bit of a random experience that can end up being kind of a monster of the week. Not bad, but do not expect a long running campaign, but a more introductory experience. 4.5/5 Execution- Here is where Chaosium excels. Chaosium makes amazing digital props and electronic resources for their adventure. Solid layout, digital links, and good text make for an easy to read experience. The book of notes is also an amazing piece that really helps me as a keeper draw in my players. And there are several premade characters that any player could pick up and start playing right away. Fantastic execution Chaosium! 5/5 Summary- Overall, this is a solid effort to help new players get into Call of Cthulhu. For about 18 bucks you get five adventures with decent plot, solid tools and great handouts to draw new and old players in. New keepers will have a bit of trouble as this could use a bit more tools to help newer ones with the rules. But if you want to start Call of Cthulhu and need a good starting point, this is a great place to begin. 90%
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Five Great Scenarios for a Campaign
These five scenarios are somewhat more involved than the introductory scenarios found in the Starter Set and Quick Start Guide. If a Keeper wants to begin building an ongoing campaign after running the Starter Set material, the DTD scenarios provide an excellent bridge to the more advanced scenarios and full-length campaigns down the road. The standout is "The Darkness Beneath the Hill" which is very pulpy (almost a dungeon crawl) and features the Serpent People!
