Ghoul Island Act 4: Ghatanothoa Awakens by Sandy Petersen and Matt Corley is a role playing supplement published by Petersen Games for use with Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for 5e. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result. This continues the campaign from Ghoul Island Act 3: Clean Up Crew.
The supplement was purchased from DriveThruRPG as a PDF but it now only appears to be available as the PDF from the Petersen Games site. It is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed and has 60 pages with one being the front cover, one the front matter, one the Table of Contents and two the Open Game License.
A map of the city of Farzeen is included for reference.
Act 4: Ghatanothoa Awakens explains this is an adventure for 4-5 characters of 11-14th level and gives a synopsis of the adventure.
Act 4.1: The Volcano Goddess is for 4-5 11th level characters and it starts with a synopsis of the part. In this part, the characters head to the Dreamlands to recover the Book of Kaza, from the progenitor cult of the Goddess of Light, and then return to find the inhabitants of Farzeen are fighting off a deep one attack.
Act 4.2: The Deep One Strike is for 4-5 12th level characters, and again it starts with a synopsis. The characters will need to decide who to help in the battle and will have to face a major threat, defeat a former ally and start preparations to face Ghatanothoa.
Act 4.3: Ghatanothoa Subverted is for 4-5 13th level characters. It starts with the standard synopsis and sees the characters uncovering the secrets of the Book of Kaza then heading into Kaza itself to confront the Elder Influence of Ghatanothoa.
Act 4.4: Eruption! is for 4-5 14th level characters and is the conclusion of the campaign. It as usual starts with a synopsis. In this part, the characters have to take the statue of the Goddess of Light out to a newly-risen volcanic island and unleash Kaza on the rising Ghatanothoa before it’s too late.
Appendix: NPCs and Items of Interest has stats for important NPCs, some new monsters and some new magic items.
Ghoul Island Act 4: Ghatanothoa Awakens in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and given its size and the number of sections it really needs them. The Table of Contents covers the major sections and subsections. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a variety of colour and black and white illustrations and maps, up to full page in size, which appear to be custom. Presentation is good.
As is common for this campaign, this may be a 5E adventure but it uses the rules from Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for 5e and is therefore more dangerous than a 5E player might expect. Character casualties are very likely, especially in the climax, and there is a not insignificant chance of the eventual destruction of the world. Of course, if that happens, the characters already failed and are dead. Or, as this is influenced by the Cthulhu Mythos, if they are lucky, they are dead. There are literally fates worse than death. This concludes a campaign that may be too deadly for most 5E players. Ghoul Island Act 4: Ghatanothoa Awakens can be found by clicking here.
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