The Unbound Book
The Unbound Book, or UBB as it was affectionally known, was a shortlived fanzine dedicated to releasing Call of Cthulhu adventures (for both the classic BRP edition and the D20 version) set in the Jazz age. Growing out of the editor's (Marcus Bone) experiences working on the Origins Awards nominated DEMONGROUND, it was developed to fill a niche during a time when support for the Call of Cthulhu game was officially at an all time ebb (the early 2000s).
While the editor initially expected the 'zine to become a vehicle for the ideas and scribblings of just his local gaming group and himself, it soon attracted submissions from the likes of Linden Dunham, Brian Sammons, Bret Kramer and Brian Courtemanche.
Issues of The Unbound Book
Three issues were released in digital (PDF) format. These are all now kindly hosted on the Yog-sothoth.com website.
Issue Zero was set out as experiment to gauge interest in the concept of a dedicated Call of Cthulhu scenario magazine and included three adventures.
- Set in a small town north of Arkham, The Rise of Xnaaki (by Michael Wood) pits the characters against an ancient evil dwelling in Steeplin Lake. An introductionary adventure into the world of Call of Cthulhu, it introduces the players to the horror that is the Great Old Ones.
- Kingsport, City in the Mists. With an injured friend babbling of demons and a town beset by creatures beyond His Wildest Dreams (by Mark Chiddicks), the investigators must find out what is happening to this quaint sea side town before it too late.
- A fire, a death and a... werewolf? Can a murder be justified? Or will one man’s quest for revenge lead to his own demise? The investigators are about to find out, when What Goes Around (by Marcus D. Bone)…
Issue One was focused on getting a wider set of authors involved, as a response from the positive feedback on the original edition.
- The Black Dog (by Linden Dunham) - Something is driving the Lord of Somerville Manor insane. Can the Investigators stop the Evil before it is too late?
- Baggage Check (by Bret Kramer) - Travel can be a tricky thing, even more so when your luggage holds a nasty surprise.
- Blackwell Horror (by Brian Sammons) - A quaint town and friendly folk? Only if you’re not aware of The Blackwell Horror!
- General Hospital (by J. Micheal Tisdel) - A D20 adventure in which the restless dead come back for vengeance.
The final issue of The Unbound book. Around the time of this release Chaosium began to produce the first of what they would call their Monograph Line, a collection of cheaply published scenarios, supplements and other support material. This new publishing model would result in a lack of material for UBB, and the need for a simple fanzine fulfilled in other ways.
- Dark Dreams of Innsmouth
- Land of the Rising Dead
- Horror on the Mesa
