The Arkham Gazette #3 is a role playing game supplement published by Sentinel Hill Press for use with Call of Cthulhu, the horror role playing game supplement based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. This is a supplement for the 1920s, concentrating on witches and witchcraft.
The supplement is available for $12.49 as a PDF and $15.99 softcover print on demand book or both for $15.99 from DriveThruRPG. The PDF is the version reviewed, although it was purchased at a reduced price as part of a special bundle. There are three PDFs; the main one is 121 pages with two being the front and rear covers and one and a half the front matter and Table of Contents.
About half a page is a note from the publisher about the issue and thanking those who made it possible.
From the History Books: New England’s Witch Trials covers the historical witch trials, divided into Massachusetts, including the Salem trials, Connecticut and Elsewhere, with some also having subdivisions, with details on different cases. Tools of the Witch Hunters are what was used to determine whether someone was a witch. After Salem is what happened when the Salem trials ended; though accusations of witchcraft continued, the authorities were much less inclined to prosecute with the last genuine trial being in 1697 and witchcraft eventually subsumed into Halloween. A bibliography at the end shows the sources.
Deep Background: Witchcraft in Lovecraft Country starts with a Historical Overview, covering Arkham, Dunwich, Kingsport and Elsewhere. These are fictional cases of witchcraft that investigators could discover through research. Research itself is then covered, the various places that investigators could find information on witchcraft. Keeper’s Overview then has details on fictional witch cults in the area, with a sidebar referencing Salem, as many Lovecraftian witches did come from there. Finally, Notable Witchcraft Locations lists important sites in Arkham, Kingsport and Dunwich.
Keepers’ Tips: Building a Better Witch is on designing witch NPCs. It has several different types of witch, white, grey, black and false, with explanations on them, and a sidebar on pharmacological witchcraft. There are different sources given for a witch’s power, one being Mythos entities. A Witch’s Grimoire has spell suggestions for different types of witch; this is followed by New Spells. Finally, there are some thoughts on using a witch in game.
Arcane Etymology and Deep Background: Gods of the Witches starts by looking at a number of Mythos gods that might be worshipped by witches, with the names they might have been known by in colonial times as well as the modern names. A sidebar looks at possible real-world origins for the witches. Monsters that might be worshipped by witches are then looked at. The end explains this article offers suggestions as to the nature and cultural origins of the witch cults, with suggestions as to how the article can be incorporated into a game.
Monsters: Rat-Things and Worse Horrors – Familiars and the Mythos starts briefly by discussing familiars before moving onto rat-things, their abilities, how they are gained, whether they might be truly the ones in charge and their purposes. Other Familiars covers other options for such. There are spells for creating and feeding rat-things, then stats for the creatures. Other Shapes has other “thing” forms that such could take. Sample Monstrosities has examples of different rat-things, with some linked to specific individuals.
From the History Books: Marked by the Devil – Lessons in Lesions covers the devil’s mark and witch’s teat that were considered to be signs of witchcraft, their probable medical origin and using them in game.
From the History Books: Colonial Folk Magic covers astrology, and other forms of divination, healing, wards and counterspells, with a sidebar on witch bottles, poppets, image magic and curses, all of which would have been used as folk magic in colonial times.
Scenario Seed: The Dried Cat has a dried cat body found in a house that is being renovated. There are three possible reasons given as to why the cat might have been there, and consequences for disturbing it.
The Biblio-File: Of Evill Sorceries Done in New-England of Dæmons in no Humane Shape is an extensive section on this book, its different versions, contents, description and availability.
Deep Background: Touched by the Fairies links together ghouls and witches, with a possible explanation as to their closeness, as well as the idea that ghouls may be the faeries of legends, as well as their connection to the Arkham cult and stats for Changelings, a new lesser independent race.
New Place: Witches’ Hollow is a location west of Arkham that is based on a work by August Derleth that was itself based on a couple of references in Lovecraft’s Commonplace Book. Though the story is said to be not great, the location is considered interesting, and this is detailed with history, secret and scenario seeds.
Scenario: The Queen of Night is a full adventure in which the investigators look into the bloodline of an Arkham witch killed two centuries ago by a mob. Her descendants are cursed and one of them is attempting to contact the Master of her ancestress. There are a lot of different NPCs that can be interacted with, or discovered as they are dead, and the adventure is quite long and somewhat complex.
Annotated Scenario Bibliography: Witches and Witchcraft is a list of all published scenarios, in print or online, related to witches in and around Lovecraft Country to start with, then those that are connected but outside the region. They are in alphabetical order and each scenario gives the publication it was in, author, summary, setting, locations visited, entities, tomes and notes, with notes giving opinions on the scenario. A sidebar covers witches in Mythos fiction.
Issue 3 – Handouts is a 24-page PDF with one page being the front cover and the remainder being duplicates of the handouts.
Issue 3: Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition Conversion is a 20-page PDF with one page being the front cover and one the front matter. The rest has the updated 7E stats for the supplement by page number.
The Arkham Gazette #3 in Review
The PDF is bookmarked but only the major sections are linked. The Table of Contents is to a similar level of depth. Given the length, navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column format and some minor errors were noticed. There are a number of black and white illustrations, some definitely stock, some probably custom, as well as the handouts. Presentation is okay.
Unlike the previous issues, this doesn’t cover a specific region of what was Lovecraft Country and is now Miskatonic Country in more detail. Instead, it just covers witches. Most of the material is related to New England as a whole, but much of it is on witches in general. It does cover witches in Mythos settings in a great deal of detail, both historical and not, but if a witch-themed supplement is not what’s sought, then this probably isn’t much use. Indeed, it covers what’s a fairly niche topic in the setting in a great deal of detail, and just doesn’t seem as much use as the previous editions. Though if a means of really fleshing witches out is desired, then this is great. The Arkham Gazette #3 can be found by clicking here.
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