Cthulhu Stardust

Five years, that's all we've got.

The madman of New England had it wrong.  The Great Old Ones are not underneath the ocean in their death-sleep.  Their ancient city of R'lyeh lies on Mars, beneath Olympus Mons, and Cthulhu is turning slow, malevolent thoughts toward the Earth...

The Rise and Triumph of Cthulhu Stardust and the Leng Spiders From Mars is a horror game of humanity's final days, with a storyline that allows players to enter at any of three points, exploring different types of adventures:

• Detective stories as Cthulhu explores Earth's weaknesses and the players try to uncover the reasons behind strange occurrences.
• Guerilla warfare and political machinations as the invasion starts in earnest and it becomes necessary to organize a resistance, either local or global.
• Post-apocalyptic survival after Earth's inevitable fall.

What this book contains:

A detailed story of the invasion of Earth, upending Bowie's tale of a saviour in the sky.  Games can be set in any of three points along the story, allowing for vastly different types of campaigns and adventures.

Simple character creation that provides significant flexibility.

A novel system where the players take all the rolls, so Cthulhu Stardust can be played with or without a GM and even solo.

Tables of mutations that characters gain and suffer as they meet more of Cthulhu's minions.

A bestiary of eight monstrosities, none of which take too well to inquisitive groups of adventurers.

What sets it apart:

A novel system that emphasizes the difference between levels of achievement, rather than smoothing them down.  The players can go toe-to-toe with a large monster if they want, but it will not end well.

The characters' exposure to the creatures of the mythos warps both mind and body, making them more powerful but driving them mad.  As they get stronger, the characters realize that they will soon turn against their friends and teammates and must decide what to do.

Familiarity with the David Bowie album or the Call of Cthulhu story is not required, but will be rewarded with careful reading.

This is a Pocket Quest 2023 entry and limited in length.  Please also consider purchasing the entire Space Horror bundle, listed below.

Content warnings: body horror, insanity, loss of humanity, self-harm, the destruction of humanity, and seeing the corruption of Bowie's works.

Now available: "Oracles" - the supplement to allow for solo and GM-less play, or as a book of inspiration for players of Cthulhu Stardust and any other Mythos games.

Also available:

The 2022 Pocket Quest entry, Pinkysworn and its free supplement, Pinkysworn Oracles.  Another flexible game built from an odd premise, this game uses the Ironsworn system to allow you to play in a summer camp where a pinky promise is the most important vow a kid can take.

Pinkysworn	Pinkysworn Oracles

A review by Critical Press Media: