An Interview with Mike Mason about Cthulhu Dark Ages

With Chaosium’s release of the third edition of Cthulhu Dark Ages for Call of Cthulhu (You can read my review of it here.), I had a great opportunity to interview Mike Mason, one of the brains behind the supplement:

How did rebooting Cthulhu Dark Ages come about?

The original Cthulhu Dark Ages was published by Chaosium 17 years go, in 2003, so it was due for redevelopment and update to the current edition of Call of Cthulhu. Chad Bowser and Andi Newton had approached Chaosium to undertake the update and development. Chad and Andi have written previously for Chaosium, so we knew the book would be in safe hands. 

What excited you about taking part in the new edition of Cthulhu Dark Ages?

The setting is so different from regular Call of Cthulhu games. Instead of the modern world with all of its conveniences, the Dark Ages presents a smaller world, where one’s knowledge is limited, where the darkness beyond the village or town is tangible and real, where forests are thought to be the haunt of evil spirits, and where there is nothing but candlelight to illuminate the way. Such things place players in a radically different setting, where superstition has currency, and there is no one who can be called upon t help. You’re on your own with just your wits to confront the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos. 

Here, you get the chance to play as a monk or a merchant, perhaps a solider or guard, again very different types of characters from librarians, professors, and private eyes.

What were the biggest challenges approaching the Cthulhu Mythos from a Medieval perspective?

The Medieval mindset was understandably quite different to a modern-day one. Religion and, possibly, a belief in the Old Ways figure largely in most people’s lives in the Dark Ages. To most folk, the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos might be considered to be “devils” or “demons” - for anything outside of their scope of understanding, religion is likely to provide an answer, which throws up interesting perspectives and plots. 

The challenge was presenting the Dark Ages in a relatively truthful and historic sense, and providing players with a grounding in this, so the setting would feel real and not become a basis for generic fantasy style games. It was important to provide the right level of information on the setting in a clear and straightforward way, which Keepers could use to inform players without overburdening them with setting material. Enough to set the scene, with more depth than they could draw up and introduce as games went forward. 

Thus, we make a feature of the oral tradition of storytelling, which in a time when there were few books provided a means for information to be communicated. Such stories would impart useful knowledge, such as why it wasn’t safe to venture into the dark woods at nighttime or speak of historic information passed down the generations.

The Dark Ages historically covered almost a thousand-year period. What in particular made to 950 CE - 1050 CE time range the ideal one to work with?

Trying to cover 1,000 years would have been too much, so focusing down on the 950-1050 CE period made things more manageable and specific. This is a time of Viking raiders, early monasteries, and before the more well-known “High” Middle Ages. There are not huge libraries of books, and even reading a language is uncommon for most folk. 

This setting challenges players to find different ways to gather information or to tackle Mythos threats. In some senses, it can be more action-orientated, although most players will find that their swords are just as ineffective against alien terrors as their guns in modern era Call of Cthulhu. Thus, the setting provokes exciting gameplay and encourages players to be creative in their investigative efforts. 

This is a time where society is largely focused on your own community, so presents the chance to delve deep into a particular village or town as a base for the games, exploring the people and place through games, and uncovering the secrets that lurk below or without in the surrounding darkness.  

What periods of the Dark Ages would you personally like to see worked with in Cthulhu Dark Ages?

We are looking at the next stage for this period, particularly the 13-14th century (what would be considered the High Middle Ages), which opens up the setting further and introduces things like monastic orders, merchant households, and military orders.

This time jump would present a larger world and reveal the changes that have taken place since the 10th century. We are likely to look at important cultural and political centers, such as those in London, England, and Sicily - opening up the notion of travel for trade and pilgrimage, which both introduce great opportunities for roleplaying and mysteries.

There’s a fair number of monographs for the previous editions of Cthulhu Dark Ages available. Did they have any influence on the new edition?

To some degree, the monographs helped to define the setting in terms of play. One thing was clear from the first edition of the book, there was no prepared location for games to take place in, which meant players were left dangling and had to create their own ‘home’ communities from scratch. In the new edition, we introduce Totburgh, a fully realized village and area in which the Keeper can set their games, allowing them to focus on the plot and mysteries by having a range of non-player characters ready to use.

This helps ground the setting and makes the investigators part of a community, so there’s some sense of ownership - the players have somewhere that’s important to them and worth saving. Again, this helps ensure the game world of Cthulhu Dark Ages is not a generic fantasy-like setting but rooted in a reality where the investigators have a stake. 

What are the key differences you see in the new edition of Cthulhu Dark Ages in contrast to the previous editions?

The book has been completely rewritten from the ground up, with the aim being to make the Dark Ages accessible, understandable, and usable in the game. We’ve tried to breathe Medieval life into the pages, detailing how people lived and what their concerns were. There’s new material throughout, from a full player character generation system, new rules for mounted combat, shields, and the oral tradition of storytelling. 

There’s guidance on insanity mechanics in this setting as well as an optional new Sanity mechanic built specifically for the Dark Ages mindset. On top of those, we have an A to Z of the Dark Ages to help ground people in the setting, and present a community (Totburgh) as a staging setting for games, with three new scenarios that introduce the setting and present engaging mysteries to kick start a new campaign. We’ve filled in the gaps from the first edition to make a more cohesive and rounded setting book, so anyone using this for their games has a great basis for running mystery and horror adventures.

Mike Mason is the Call of Cthulhu Creative Director, and co-writer of the Call of Cthulhu 7th edition Keeper’s Rulebook, the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set, and Pulp Cthulhu. He is also the lead writer and editor of the Call of Cthulhu product line.

Cthulhu Dark Ages can be purchased directly through Chaosium.