By John Houlihan
Art by Andre Meister
Our brand new tome, Horrors of the Secret War releases today on pre-order in the UK and US and as with every book, seeing it through from an initial idea, through planning, writing, art and production has been a real experience—one which only truly culminates in the immense satisfaction you get when you finally hold the finished physical book in your hands.
Ever wanted to design your own Mythos monster? See the end of the blog for first details!
But what lurks within Horrors of the Secret War’s eldritch covers I hear you ask? Inside this tome of terror, you’ll find details, stats, and art on a huge variety of mythos-inspired monsters, creatures, and strange entities, the merest suggestion of which could send your mind hurtling into strange dimensions.
In previous editions of Achtung! Cthulhu, monster compendiums like Terrors of the Secret War have always been hugely popular. So when we were planning this year’s schedule, making another one was an easy decision. We knew anecdotally and from our survey that GMs and players were crying out for more fearsome creatures and intriguing NPCs to populate their games. We were only too happy to oblige.
But we also wanted to go beyond a simple ‘monsters and gods’ book and offer some additional features, as well as having some fun along the way.
Animals seemed a good place to start. They’re useful as both natural adversaries and hazards but also make great pets, companions and steeds. Besides, who could resist the allure of riding into battle on a mighty war elephant?
We also knew the four occult secret services Section M, Majestic, Black Sun and Nachtwölfe would have created many Creatures of Weird Science and Sinister Sorcery of their own during the Secret War. This section of the book details several of the most interesting operatives, units, and individuals who will make welcome allies or powerful foes.
Naturally, the Horrors and Monstrosities section is the core section of the book and presents a selection of creatures to threaten both body, mind and soul. This includes classic mythos monsters like the Dhole or Spiders of Leng, plus many created exclusively for this bestiary like the loathsome Sand Dweller, or fiery Seed of Kol’Valassam. Rounding off the main part of the tome is a sanity-challenging selection of Elder Gods, Outer Gods and Great Old Ones. This is a new pantheon of deities to strike trepidation into even the stoutest of hearts. Worship or defy them at your peril.
One area where we felt the game could do with additional detail was providing some more conventional human enemies (or allies) who might be operating away from the front lines. The answer was the Infernal Cults and Invidious Sects segment. This showcases a range of occult organisations active during the Secret War to add further intrigue to your games. With a wide selection of pre-made cults, it also contains rules for creating your own from the ground up. There’s also a ready-made cult HQ to house them in, a detailed map, plus adventure seeds to immerse you in cult activities and missions.
It’s been a challenging but rewarding exercise to come up with a whole new pantheon of monsters, demons and gods to populate Horrors of the Secret. Yet both Bill Heron, co-writer and long time Achtung! Cthulhu stalwart, and I had a tremendous amount of fun creating this new compendium for our own twisted amusement—and yours too of course.
Use them wisely, use them well, but most of all use them to Imbue unholy levels of terror in your agents!
Making mythos monsters is an immense pleasure and so we wanted to share the experience and give you a chance to create your own Mythos Monstrosity.
Achtung! Cthulhu fans and budding game designers should keep an eye out for a new competition launching next Tuesday 15th July, where you’ll get a chance to design your own monster for our annual Halloween Horrors release!
Read more at this site