You have to keep the doors to the Outside from swinging open – no matter what the cost in life or sanity. You have to piece together clues from books bound in human skin, from eviscerated corpses covered in ichor, and from inscriptions carved on walls built before humanity evolved. You have to go wherever the answers are, and do what needs to be done to protect humanity. But do you dare to follow… the trail of Cthulhu?
Trail of Cthulhu is an award-winning roleplaying game of investigative horror, powered by the GUMSHOE system and produced under license from Chaosium. Acclaimed expert on the eldritch Kenneth Hite weds his encylopaedic knowledge of vivid historical detail to his mastery of H. P. Lovecraft’s classic horror tales to bring their cosmic malignity forward into the 1930s—a time when the creeping madness of the Great Old Ones intermingles with the sweeping cruelty of global totalitarianism.
Trail of Cthulhu is designed for investigative play: the challenge is in interpreting clues, not finding them. The game also offers:
- Two modes of play: Pulp (for the “desperate action” feel of Robert E. Howard or Indiana Jones) and Purist (full of philosophical horror and cosmic dread)
- A new take on Lovecraft’s creatures and cults that makes even the most familiar Mythos elements surprising and scary at the gaming table
- Innovative rules for sanity and stability
- A Drives mechanic that addresses the perennial horror RPG question, “Why don’t we just forget we saw anything, and go home where it’s safe?”
- GM advice on how to run a horror adventure
- Detailed notes on designing an enthralling, cohesive investigative adventure using the GUMSHOE system’s clue structure.
Trail of Cthulhu won two ENnie awards for Best Rules and Best Writing, as well as receiving an honourable mention for Product of the Year. It’s now in its third print run, and currently available in five languages.
Overall, this is a masterful melding of the Gumshoe system with classic Cthulhu Mythos gaming, an inspired match. There’s so much goodness in this that I’ll be back again and again, not just to play but to mine for ideas whatever I am doing.
“The Gumshoe system is an investigation-oriented one, and this orientation is well suited to many Mythos scenarios. We enjoyed playing our characters and didn’t have too much trouble picking up the system. I’d recommend it.”
“With enough for everyone and a system flexible to have from a purely investigative adventure to a action fuelled Indiana Jones style game, if you like Lovecraft, you simply can’t go wrong with it.”
.…I was concerned that my traditional style of low prep freeform gaming would have trouble with the GUMSHOE clue system included here… I quickly discovered that this was not an obstacle at all, … it was very easy to constantly push new clues through different Investigative Abilities. In fact, I found that the game worked spectacularly well with this style as the nature of these Abilities encouraged me to constantly engage each of the players thereby resulting in a mystery that was continuously moving forward to its PC driven conclusion. My play experiences have been far more satisfying than I would have expected, though my group has largely avoided physical conflict whenever possible.
“By now it should be evident that I really love Trail of Cthulhu. I think it manages to capture the feel and style of HPL’s stories, particularly when played in Purist mode, with rules built to complement the stories. GUMSHOE is a perfect fit for investigative type adventures, and well-suited for a plotted out set of scenes. It also is simple enough to be run in a more “off-the-cuff” improvisational style and doesn’t require a great deal of prep on the part of the Keeper.”
“This book is gorgeous; my copy is a lovely 248 page hardcover. Jérome Huguenin does a masterful job with art and layout. That art is consistent throughout– something not to be underestimated as a key to make a game feel complete … Worth buying for any gamer interesting in horror or Lovecraft.”
“…the section on the Cthulhu Elder Gods/Outer Gods is superb and packed with so many incredibly insane ideas for running plots it is hard to talk about it without waving hands around incoherently. One small sentence about Elder Gods as meme loads was so compelling it was a hot topic in my house for three days. If you’re into CoC at all, this is worth getting to juice up campaigns and take them to 11.”
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Latest Products
Cover Artists: Jérôme Huguenin
Pages: 248
Cover Artists: Jérôme Huguenin
Pages: 192
Cover Artists: Jérôme Huguenin
Interior Artists: William Blake, Steve Dempsey
Pages: 224
Cover Artists: Gislaine Avila, Ethan Black, Gennifer Bone, Mark Bulahao, Wagner Chrissante, Tyler Clark, Kennedy C. Garza, Dean Engelhardt, Jorge Fernández Sanz, Quintin Gleim, Heather Landry, Jeff Porter, Georgia Roan, Anna Rogers, Ian Schofield, Patricia Smith, Kellianne Stakenas, Kyle Strahm, Piya Wannachaiwong
Pages: 368
Cover Artists: Jérôme Huguenin
Pages: 184
Cover Artists: Gislaine Avila, Jesús A. Blones, Marine Cegalerba, Jen McCleary, Kennedy Cooke-Garza, Lauren Covarrubias, Lee Dawn, Nyra Drakae, Marisa Erven, Quintin Gleim, Jérôme Huguenin, Ethan Lee, Erica Leveque, David Lewis Johnson, Amanda Makepeace, Valentina Filic (xAngelusNex), Georgia Roan, Anna Rogers, Karolina Wegrzyn
Pages: 224
Cover Artists: Alessandro Alaia
Pages: 216
Cover Artists: Tyler Clark, Ben Felten, Emilien Francois, Melissa Gay, Jérôme Huguenin, Leah Huete, Rachel A. Kahn, Anna Kryczkowska, David Lewis Johnson, Pat Loboyko, Rich Longmore, Jeff Porter, Patricia Smith, Jeff Strand
Pages: 160
Resources & Downloads
Here you’ll find official materials as well as useful game resources and play aids. A link to a third-party site doesn’t mean that we agree with or endorse all of the opinions on that site. The resources are available under the Community Use policy, and all are copyright Pelgrane Press Ltd unless otherwise noted.
- Page of resources, for first-time GMs and players – includes links to Actual Play posts, videos and podcasts
- The Enchiridion of Elucidation, a guidebook for both players and Keepers, with advice on playing the game by Tony Williams
- Creating an investigator – by Jason Durall
- Sample pages from Trail of Cthulhu
- Ritual Pursuits by Steve Dempsey – 15 minute Trail taster demo.
- Download the Trail of Cthulhu condensed rules PDF by Tony Williams
- Download the Trail of Cthulhu condensed rules PDF, translated into Korean by W.W.
- Trail of Cthulhu Cheat Sheet by Yunus Wesley
- Vade Mecum de Vestigio Cthulhus, a quick reference rules guide by Tony Williams
- Download a fillable PDF Investigator Matrix.
- Download a Keeper’s Investigator Ability Matrix (A4) by Tony Williams.
- Download a Keeper’s Investigator Ability Matrix (US letter) by Tony Williams.
- Download a fillable Keeper’s Investigator Ability Matrix (A4) by Tony Williams.
- Download a fillable Keeper’s Investigator Ability Matrix (US letter) by Tony Williams.
- Download Stunning Eldritch Tales hand-outs.
- Download a map of the Cleveland Torso Murders by Enrique Esturillo
- High-resolution maps of Cleveland for the ToC example adventure.
- Download Arkham Detective Tales hand-outs
- The Armitage Files handouts (for purchasers for the Armitage Files only). The password of the zip file is how the innocent situations are described at the bottom of p. 37 of The Armitage Files.
- The Armitage Files Excel spreadsheet of all the NPCs, organisations, places and magical tomes, thanks to Scott C Bourgeois. Download it here.
- The Armitage Files mind map (note – contains spoilers!), created by Scott Nickell using FreeMind (external link). Download it here.
- Download the character sheet and other forms as a small PDF.
- Download the Cthulhu Apocalypse Character Sheet.
- Download a character sheet formatted for A4 by Przemyslaw ‘Marksjus’ Ryba.
- Download a two-page character sheet.
- Download a character sheet that includes the Magic ability from Rough Magicks.
- Download a simple, black-and-white character sheet with no background.
- Download another two-page character sheet.
- Download a fillable PDF character sheet, courtesy of Josh Clark – Myca in our forums
- Download a fillable PDF character sheet (A4) by Tony Williams.
- Download a fillable PDF character sheet (US letter) by Tony Williams.
- Download a Pulp character sheet (A4) by Tony Williams.
- Download a Pulp character sheet (US letter) by Tony Williams.
- Download a Purist character sheet (A4) by Tony Williams
- Download a Purist character sheet (US letter) by Tony Williams.
- Download an antiqued blank character sheet by Joachim Stjernberger
- Download an antiqued character sheet with a period male character portrait by Joachim Stjernberger
- Download an antiqued character sheet with a period male character portrait by Joachim Stjernberger
- Download an antiqued character sheet with a period male character portrait by Joachim Stjernberger
- Download an antiqued character sheet with a period male character portrait by Joachim Stjernberger
- Download an antiqued character sheet with a period male character portrait by Joachim Stjernberger
- Download an antiqued character sheet with a period male character portrait by Joachim Stjernberger
- Download an antiqued character sheet with a period female character portrait by Joachim Stjernberger
- Download an antiqued character sheet with a period female character portrait by Joachim Stjernberger
- Download Dreamhounds of Paris character sheets with surrealist images by John Potts
- Download Dreamhounds of Paris character sheet (A4) by Tony Williams.
- Download Dreamhounds of Paris character sheet (US letter) by Tony Williams.
Adventures and campaigns
- Download a free adventure by Will Hindmarch, The Murderer of Thomas Fell, as a zip file from here.
- Download Acéphale (Acephalous), a free 1930s pulp adventure with French language handouts by Steve Dempsey, as a zip file from here.
- The RPGGeek GUMSHOE competition-winning Purist adventure, The Keepers of the Woods by Frederick Foulds, is available to download now.
- Altus Affero is a campaign frame for Trail of Cthulhu, based around an occult journal.
Call of Cthulhu Adventure Conversions
Chaosium and other companies have very kindly agreed to let us put conversion notes for their excellent adventures up here for ToC users. You’ll need the original CoC adventure, of course! Special thanks to Arseny Kuznetsov for this section.
- Conversion Template 1.1 with sample styles and a font, created by Arseny Kuznetsov with additions by Ben Phillips
- Beyond the Mountains of Madness from Chaosium, converted by Arseny Kuznetsov, David Bruce Cousins and Belinda Kelly.
- Death in Luxor from Goodman Games, converted by Arseny Kuznetsov
- Wasted Youth from Miskatonic River Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- Malice Everlasting from Miskatonic River Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- Proof of Life from Miskatonic River Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- Spirit of Industry from Miskatonic River Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- The Night War from Miskatonic River Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- The Reeling Midnight from Miskatonic River Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- Our Ladies of Sorrow from Miskatonic River Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- Consumption from Golden Goblin Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- Darkness Illuminated from Golden Goblin Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- Let the Children Come to Me from Golden Goblin Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- The Lonely Point Lighthouse from Golden Goblin Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- With Blue Uncertain Stumbling from Golden Goblin Press, converted by Christopher Smith Adair
- The Haunting (PDF), converted by Arseny Kuznetsov
- The Haunted House (PDF), converted by Arseny Kuznetsov
- The Edge of Darkness (PDF), converted by Arseny Kuznetsov
- Song of the Sphere (PDF), converted by Evlyn Moreau
- Horror of the Glen (PDF), converted by Ken Hickman
- Masks of Nyarlathotep, converted by Dustin Stevens, and revised and extemded by Catherine Ramen
- Trail of Tsathoggua, converted by Harris Burkhalter
- The Curse of Tsathoggua, converted by Harris Burkhalter
- Crack’d and Crook’d Manse, converted by Sam Friedman
- Tell Me, Have You Seen The Yellow Sign?, converted by Gabriel de Bourg
- Dead Man Stomp, converted by Sune Nødskou
Trail of Cthulhu Adventure Conversions
And the other way around; here, our Trail of Cthulhu adventures have been converted for Chaosium’s classic Call of Cthulhu. You’ll still need the original Trail of Cthulhu adventures to play these!
- Eternal Lies, converted by Andy Nicholson
- Air Transport in the 1930s from See Page XX
- Rail Transport in the 1930s from See Page XX
- Sea Transport in the 1930s from See Page XX
- From Call to Trail (Part 1) – by Robin D. Laws
- From Call to Trail (Part 2) – by Robin D. Laws
- Photomontage Technique for a Trail of Cthulhu Cover – by Jérôme Huguenin
- Raiders of the Lost Gods (Running ‘Masks of Nyarlathotep’ for Trail of Cthulhu) – by Russell Andrews
- Running a Conspiracy Horror Campaign in Trail of Cthulhu – by Justin Farquhar
- NYC History, photomapped
- Lost in Smoke (A Trail of Cthulhu scenario hook)
- He Wants His Books Back (A Trail of Cthulhu scenario hook)
- Download the Bookhounds of London B&W Character Sheet (A4 format) (US letter format)
- Download the Bookhounds of London B&W Bookshop Record Sheet (A4 format) (US letter format)
- Download the Bookhounds of London B&W Plot Hooks Sheet (A4 format) (US letter format)
- Download the Bookhounds of London B&W Dramatis Personae List (A4 format) (US letter format)
- Download a Bookhounds of London colour Pulp Character Sheet by Tony Williams (A4 format) (US letter format)
- Download a Bookhounds of London colour Purist Character Sheet by Tony Williams (A4 format) (US letter format)
- Download a Bookhounds of London colour Bookshop Record Sheet by Tony Williams (A4 format) (US letter format)
- Download Bookhounds of London rumours
- The Church of Little St Hugh and its “Heretic’s Library” – A resource by James Haughton and Bret Kramer
Be warned – these links will contain game spoilers, so if you haven’t read the campaign or you’re hoping to play it, don’t read these!
- Andrew Nicholson’s Eternal Lies Trail of Cthulhu conversion
- Rickard Gudbrand’s Eternal Lies interactive campaign map
- Rickard Gudbrand’s Eternal Lies NPC picture handouts
- Simon’s Eternal Lies FAQ
- Download the missing notebook page from The Armitage Files (to insert between pages 98-99).
- A card saying “Scene” Hold it up when the players have discovered all the clues available in a scene.
- A different card saying “Scene” Thanks to Zachary Zahringer for this one.
- Download a zip file with two extra characters by Bill White for his “The Big Hoodoo” adventure in Out of Time, Kleo Apostolides and Isaac Asimov.
- 7 Gods and Titans for use in an adventure or campaign of your own! Courtesy of Nick Ingham.
- Crib sheet for fan-created variant rules for Pillars of Sanity by Tony Williams (read the original article here),
- Crib sheet for fan-created variant rules for False Sanity by Tony Williams (read the original article here).
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