Call of Cthulhu RPG campaign Masks of Nyarlathotep being turned into a six-hour radio play

Masks of Nyarlathotep, the acclaimed roleplaying adventure for Call of Cthulhu, is being adapted as a suitably epic radio play.

Originally released in 1984 for the first edition of the horror RPG, Masks of Nyarlathotep became a seminal moment for roleplaying storytelling, weaving a dramatic tale of murder, mystery and doom that took place across the entire world, from China and Australia to Egypt and Kenya.

The campaign is making a return later this year in an expanded and remastered form for the seventh edition of Call of Cthulhu, as well as a spin-off for board game Eldritch Horror, but it’s also venturing beyond the tabletop in an audio retelling by the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society. To read the full story of the creation of Masks of Nyarlathotep and why it's continued to be such an influential creation, pick up the February issue of Tabletop Gaming.

The organisation, which was founded in the ‘80s by passionate Call of Cthulhu players Andrew Leman and Sean Branney, has previously adapted a number of the author’s original stories, as well as Call of Cthulhu supplement The Fungi From Yuggoth, as part of its Dark Adventure Radio Theatre series. The series uses a number of voice actors, original orchestral scores and sound effects to bring the tales to life in the style of a 1930s radio serial.

Masks of Nyarlathotep will be the 20th Dark Adventure Radio Theatre instalment, due to go live around the re-release of the campaign for the RPG this summer. Branney told us that the script has been in development for months and is due to be recorded soon, with an estimated runtime of more than six hours.

As well as being released online and on CD, the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society will be putting out a number of prop sets for use with Masks of Nyarlathotep, including a collection of around 120 props and a limited-edition deluxe set that adds additional artefacts inspired by the game.