The Haunting (aka The Haunted House) (Scenario)

Details

The old Corbitt House at dusk.

Pages: 6-21 pages, depending on version (7th Edition quick-start is 21 pages including handouts and example of play)

Author(s): Sandy Petersen

Artist(s):

Setting: 1920s

Appears in: Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Quick Start Cthulhu. Originally entitled "The Haunted House", but retitled to avoid confusion with The Haunted House in The Trail of Tsathogghua.

Campaign:

Summary

The investigators are asked or hired to examine an old house in Boston, where the tenants recently suffered a family tragedy. The house is rumoured to be haunted, and the landlord wishes to set everyone's minds at ease about the case.

Links

• The 6th Edition and 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu quick start rules include this scenario as a starting adventure.
• Newspaper Handouts by Yog-Sothoth.com members
• The Haunting Handouts by Kadath from Yog-Sothoth.com
• D20 Conversion Notes by Doug Lyons and Erica Balsley
• Sound Effects by Chirgnusium

Spoilers - Keepers Eyes Only

Players should not read any further.

Synopsis

Corbitt House, alternate floor plan.

The investigators are called to look into an old house where a series of tragedies have occurred. The most recent tenants, the Macario family, went violently insane and reported haunting by a sinister presence. The landlord of the house has no idea what is happening, but wants the rumours put to rest.

The source of the tragedies is an early resident, Walter Corbitt, who was secretly buried in the basement. He was a member of a Mythos cult, the "Chapel of Contemplation and Church of Our Lord Granter of Secrets". Despite protestations and legal action from neighbours, his final wishes were carried out and he was interred under his house. He is slowly transforming into an undead monstrosity, though not one that complies with any particular legends. Corbitt has been using his magical talents to leech energy from the inhabitants of the house, but his main desire is to keep anyone from learning his secret and to kill or drive insane anyone who discovers him. He uses his powers to mislead and bewilder trespassers, and sometimes to kill them.

Various archives report a series of tragedies in the house across many years, involving madness, death, illness and injury. These are the source of its reputation, and almost certainly due to Corbitt's influence. They also report Corbitt's burial, the objections, and the dubious history of the Chapel of Contemplation.

The Chapel of Contemplation was shut down by police in a violent raid, after claims of kidnapping. The event was hushed up despite numerous deaths, and most of those arrested were mysteriously released, apparently because of corrupt intervention by an official. The Pastor escaped prison and was never recaptured. The ruins of the Chapel contain a mysterious symbol that disturbs investigators; two skeletons; cult records indicating Corbitt's burial was decreed by some sinister entity ("that one who waits in the dark"); and a rotting copy of the Liber Ivonis. None of these people or items play any further part in the scenario.

The old house is abandoned, though old junk and some of the family's belongings are still there, including rotting food and personal items, and many Catholic symbols. The doors are heavily locked and the windows nailed shut. Corbitt's diaries are locked in a cupboard, and describe his occult experiments, as well as the spell Summon/Bind Dimensional Shambler. Corbitt's old bedroom is a focus for his power, and he can manipulate items here to attract, distract and attack visitors. Rickety stairs lead to the basement, which seems empty. The main basement also holds a ritual knife, which Corbitt telekinetically controls to attack investigators. A wooden wall conceals a second basement, where Corbitt lies hidden, as well as a pack of rats.

Corbitt has some awareness of what is happening in the house. As well as manipulating items in the bedroom, he can use magic to dominate and control investigators, ward himself, and even summon a Dimensional Shambler. If disturbed, he can reanimate his body to confront the intruders.

Follow-Ons

Additional material related to this classic scenario has been published in other places:

• Dan Harms wrote a ten page article in The Unspeakable Oath, Issue 18 describing the Chapel of Contemplation cult in three eras

References

Corbitt House map, edited for use as a handout.

Player Handouts:

• Invitation/Job Offer
• Seven clippings from various sources, including the Boston Globe
• Symbol of the Chapel of Contemplation cult
• Map of the Corbitt House (not presented as a hand-out, but could be printed/copied and used as a hand-out by omitting the basement)

Locations: The Corbitt House, the Chapel of Contemplation

Creatures: Walter Corbitt, Dimensional Shambler, rat packs.

Tomes and Artifacts:

• Corbitt's Diaries,
• Liber Ivonis,
• magic dagger,
• pendant of +1 POW
• Optional: 6th Edition provided for an additional dog-eared book on Demonology, mentioning the Knights of the Silver Twilight, meant as a plot-hook to another adventure (see Keeper's Notes below).

Campaigns / Scenarios: (6th Edition Quick Start version only) Pickman's Student, Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, Return to Dunwich, Adventures in Arkham Country, H.P. Lovecraft's Kingsport.

Comments

Trivia: According the the 5th Edition core rule-book, more people have played The Haunting than any other, and it has been included with the game since the beginning. It has appeared in most versions of the game since the earliest editions, when it was called "The Haunted House". (One of the exceptions is D20 Call of Cthulhu).

Trivia: As part of the 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu Kickstarter project, Mike Mason and Charlie Krank used “The Haunting” as the basis for a serialized story, one new entry for each day of the project. The story is included in the 7th Edition Call of Cthulhu quick-start rules as an example of how the scenario can vary depending on what the investigators choose to do.

Keeper Comments

The scenario officially includes the Liber Ivonis, though a damaged copy. It isn't necessary to the story, and can easily be removed or ignored for a scenario that's supernatural rather than Lovecraftian. It was apparently written as such (Sandy Petersen). The Dimensional Shambler is frequently omitted, but in a supernatural game could represent some other monster.

The 6th Edition quick-start rules included some optional plot hooks, but these were omitted from the 7th Edition quick-start rules. For Keepers wishing to make use of them, the hooks are:

• (Marcario Family at the Roxbury Sanitarium) While at the sanitarium, the investigators learn that the Macarios’ doctor is out of town. Filling in for him is a visiting doctor from Arkham Sanitarium, Doctor Hardstrom. While speaking with the investigators, Doctor Hardstrom mentions that he has a similarly traumatized patient at Arkham Sanitarium. The keeper should note that this is an adventure hook that leads to the Chaosium supplement Arkham (CHA 2342).
• (Boston Globe Clippings Morgue) While investigators are prowling through the clippings morgue, they discover a clipping that describes a raid that took place on the Congregational Church in Kingsport, 1731. Although this event is unrelated, the similarity should attract the investigators’ attention. The keeper should note this information leads to an adventure in the Chaosium Supplement Kingsport (CHA 8804).
• (Ground Floor Room 1) Also located in this room is a book about demonology. The title is faded and indiscernable, but the majority of the pages remain legible. Several of the pages are dog-eared in a section about the Knights of the Silver Twilight. The keeper should note that this leads to an adventure in Chaosium’s supplement Shadows of Yog-Sothoth (CHA 2397).
• (Ground Floor Room 4) On the wall in this room is a bizarre painting. Investigators who observe it feel inexplicably unsettled. The artist’s name is Nelson Blakeley. The keeper should note that this picture leads to an adventure in Chaosium’s supplement H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands.
• (Upstairs Room 3) Snooping investigators will find a business card inside one of the dresser drawers. It bears the name of Doctor Henry Armitage, and on the back is a telephone number. The keeper should note that this leads to an adventure in Chaosium’s supplement Dunwich (CHA 8802).

The 6th Edition quick-start rules also included as a reward a +1 Power pendant: "Around Corbitt's neck is a black gem fastened on a chain. If the stone is fished out of his dust by an investigator, the stone dissolves in the investigator's hand and adds 1 POW to his characteristic. This magical stone helped fuel Corbitt's undead might." This artefact was deleted from the 7th Edition Quick-Start Rules, leaving behind only the reference "some sort of chain rests around [the lich's] neck", which suggested to some readers that the lich was mysteriously chained up in the basement, an interpretation that an inventive keeper can use to provide an interesting variation on the story: who chained Corbitt's body chained up in the basement, and why? (This creepy interpretation is discussed in the YSDC forums here.)