Chaosium sent me a copy of their new campaign “The Children of Fear” for review, and I have to say this is a huge and beautiful undertaking. Literally huge. Coming in at over 400 pages, this immense campaign for Call of Cthulhu written by Lynne Hardy spans Asia and wayyyyyy beyond. Designed for either Call of Cthulhu or Pulp Cthulhu, the investigators find themselves embroiled in a secret war between two mythic lands, where earth is the metaphorical grass that metaphorical elephants are going to stomp if they don’t stop it.

“The Children of Fear” starts in China with the investigators signing on with the famed explorer Langdon Warner to aid in his exploration of the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. Their trek goes along the Silk Road, then leads them to far-off locales such as the lost kingdom of Gandara in what is today Pakistan, Sitavana in India, and Kham, Tibet.

During these expeditions the evil hand of the campaign’s major antagonists, the Tokabaya, starts making itself known with one goal; nothing less than the destruction of everything. Investigators learn of the ongoing, eternal war between Shambhala and Agartha and how earth stands precariously in the between the two foes. The investigators are the only hope of making sure that the Gates of Agartha stay closed, that everyone alive may stay that way and relatively sane.

The first thing that needs to be said is how gigantic “The Children of Fear” is, not just in page count. The scope of it can be compared to the classic Masks of Nyarlathotep, and can easily provide many, many months of game play. The environments that the investigators visit are rich in detail and possibilities, and are going to be keeping a lot of Keepers on their toes. There are many tasks that the investigators have to fulfill in order to get any sort of victory, and the ground they have to cover in order to do so is immense. “The Children of Fear” is less of a sandbox than Masks of Nyarlathotep is, but not by much.

I think one of the key beauties of “The Children of Fear” campaign is the unfamiliarity intrinsic to it. Asia hasn’t been a key locale for many Call of Cthulhu scenarios, and that mystery provides an excellent way to keep even the most experienced players on their toes. Not only does ”The Children of Fear” provide brand new cultural and geographical elements to interact with, but the horrific abomination experts in your players group are probably going to be surprised. There’s maybe a couple familiar types of baddie in the game. All the others are beautifully fleshed-out from the myths of the various regions of the campaign. The Kueitzemen, the Rat King, Walking Portraits, and many other antagonists provide brand new opportunities for investigators to try to live through..

“The Children of Fear” is an obviously labor of love, and definitely promising to take a place alongside Masks of Nyarlathotep and Horror on the Orient Express as one of the greats of Call of Cthulhu. If you’re looking for an exciting change of location that will be an enjoyable challenge for both keeper and players alike.

“The Children of Fear” is available for purchase in pdf format directly from Chaosium. If you buy the pdf, when the hardcopy of the campaign becomes available for purchase you can deduct the price of the pdf from the cost.