Cathulhu

Cathulhu

“It is said that in Ulthar, which lies beyond the river Skai, no man may kill a cat; and this I can verily believe as I gaze upon him who sitteth purring before the fire. For the cat is cryptic, and close to strange things which men cannot see. He is the soul of antique Aegyptus, and bearer of tales from forgotten cities in Meroe and Ophir. He is the kin of the jungle’s lords, and heir to the secrets of hoary and sinister Africa. The Sphinx is his cousin, and he speaks her language; but he is more ancient than the Sphinx, and remembers that which she hath forgotten—H.P. Lovecraft, The Cats of Ulthar, 1920

Welcome to Cathulhu, the Call of Cthulhu alternative setting where feline sleuths investigate the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos.

Cats are mysterious, self-contained creatures. Both wild and domestic in nature, they are silent observers of all that goes on around them.

In Cathulhu, discover the secret life of the cat as a Dreamlands warrior and a Waking World sleuth. Cats are the secret allies of humanity in the fight against cosmic horror; confronting overlooked machinations orchestrated from the sewers, tracking down sorcerers and cultists in the Waking World, and taking the fight to Nyarlathotep’s minions in the Dreamlands with the Cat Armies.

Cathulhu contains full character generation information for creating feline characters, feline abilities, background information on the cult of Bast, a short bestiary of feline opponents and an introductory adventure, ‘The Black Cat’.

Cathulhu is fully compatible with Call of Cthulhu sixth edition rules.

“Watch a cat decide to move through a door, and see how patiently he waits for his opportunity, never losing sight of his purpose even when he finds it expedient to feign other interests in the interim. Watch him in the thick of the chase, and compare his calculating patience and quiet study of his terrain with the noisy floundering and pawing of his canine rival. It is not often that he returns empty-handed. He knows what he wants, and means to get it in the most effective way, even at the sacrifice of time—which he philosophically recognises as unimportant in the aimless cosmos. There is no turning him aside or distracting his attention—and we know that among humans this very quality of mental tenacity, this ability to carry a single thread through complex distractions, is considered a pretty good sign of intellectual vigour and maturity. Children, old crones, peasants, and dogs ramble; cats and philosophers stick to their point.”—H.P. Lovecraft, Cats and Dogs, 1926

Cathulhu is intended as an interlude to mainstream Call of Cthulhu games, and provides a different POV to the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos. It can be played light-heartedly or seriously. The opponents of the feline investigators can range from dastardly rat-kings or mutant sewer lizards, to lone mad sorcerers, or all the way to a full-blown confrontation with the Cthulhu Mythos.

History

Cathulhu is the English-language version of Katzulhu, which first appeared in the German-language Cthuloide Welten magazine, #1 and #2, in 2001/2002. The Katzulhu rules were reprinted in 2009 to accompany the release of Pegasus spiele’s Dreamlands sourcebook.

Cathulhu was developed by Ingo Ahrens, Adam Crossingham and Daniel Harms from Ingo’s original Katzulhu, and was published in Worlds of Cthulhu magazine #4 in 2006. This edition is revised from the Worlds of Cthulhu version and includes additional information about Sabbat cats, and the cult of Bast through the ages.