Episode 5 Happy Endings Last time on Call of Cthulhu (back in June) our solo protagonist, the young Detective DJ Stark failed to stop whatever unholy occult occurrence at Horton Opera House. Stabbed by cultists, blind luck caused a passer-by to notice him and call for an ambulance. The incident cost Stark another two weeks in the hospital, but he insisted on returning to duty quickly. Mr. Chao had all but disappeared, and there was no sign of the cultists in the opera house. There was no clue as to what the swirling bright light that he saw before he fell down the trapdoor. At the end of his shift he was approached by his new partner Detective Alex Sim, a young Asian woman who knew of Stark’s proclivities with investigating strange and unexplained things and getting into severe injuries. She warned him that she did not wish for her […]

Episode 4 A Night At The Opera Last time (a year and 4 days ago in real time), despite being badly injured and walking on crutches, Detective DJ Stark (played by Irfan) succeeded in thwarting the scheme of the Cult of the Pale Nurses in their bid to summon the extradimensional being Sharakh-Kheth from crossing over into our universe and utterly demolishing the Saint Agatha Medical Centre in Brisbane, San Francisco. (Yesterday afternoon we continued the Call of Cthulhu RPG campaign to see how Detective Stark was faring. Polyhedrals and paperminis deployed, Irfan wondered what Lovecraftian creatures and machinations he would encounter in this session. It was six weeks later in game time…) Stark had been back to work at his precinct for two weeks, getting quickly bored by a desk job. His phone rang. A familiar elderly voice could be heard. “Mr. Chao,” said Stark. “I take it my […]

Episode 3 Healthcare Blues Last time on Call of Cthulhu (almost two years ago in realtime), Detective D.J. Stark played by Irfan (the youngest Call of Cthulhu player ever? I have no idea) killed his partner who turned out to be a ghoul cultist and prevented an entity called Sharakh-Kheth from emerging from its universe into ours. However he was badly injured – lots of broken bones – and was hospitalised. Three weeks later he was moved from intensive care into a shared hospital ward at Saint Agatha Medical Centre in Brisbane, San Francisco, located all the way in Firth Park Canyon. Doctor Geisler was his doctor. His ward-mates were three other elderly men Beck, Dolce and Nunez. The ward had one window that had an iron grill installed. Stark could see trees outside from the third story of the hospital. Day One In the morning, Eleanor Stark a professor […]

Episode 2 Stark Raving Mad For several weeks, Irfan was asking me if I could run the continuation of his first Call of Cthulhu game where he roleplays SFPD Detective D.J. Stark. Finally I had the time to sit down and write prep notes for a short session. Irfan got into Detective Stark’s shoes, trench coat, shirt and tie, and then got right into it. The game started out where the previous session ended: Captain Greta Hack gives the bruised and battered Stark a week’s off after he shot his turncoat partner Lee Wilson and rescued Paige Riordan from the vicious underground creatures. Stark really has a Glock 9mm, not a revolver Returning to his apartment, he was ambushed by one of the foetid, muzzle-mouthed creatures in his kitchen. He felled it with a shot. The rest ran out the corridor and down the staircase. Stark pursued, but he was […]

Episode 1 The City By The Bay I’ve had the Call of Cthulhu RPG for a decade now. I’ve never run it… til now. It was a gift from Gary before Irfan was born. We used to joke that if I couldn’t find anyone to run it for, I should someday run it for Irfan – who was then still unborn. And at the time I had yet to discover GOKL. Almost ten years later, I have refereed Irfan in a Call of Cthulhu game, who rolled up his character yesterday: a young detective in San Francisco named D.J. Stark. Here follows the actual play report: Detective Stark and his new partner Wilson hear of an abducted 9-year-old named Paige Riordan and go for a look. Another detective prevents Stark from entering the crime scene, warning him that this was his case. Stark fails to fast talk his way through. […]