Man, Tatters of the King (2006) is really something.

Rather than the works of Lovecraft, Tatters is concerned with the King in Yellow, created by Robert W. Chambers in 1895 and a prime influence of old HPL. In 2019, it is perhaps hard to separate the King in Yellow from the larger, all consuming Cthulhu Mythos, but it really is of a different tenor. This is reflected in Tatters, which focuses far more on psychology, creative impulses and ambiguous morality.

Tatters is heavily investigation oriented, intricately plotted and almost entirely lacking in action movie style antics. There are some definitively evil cultists, especially those in the delightful sidetrack scenario in Ramsey Campbell’s Goatswood, but the central antagonist is hard to pin down. He’s looking to bring the god Hastur to earth for reasons that are deluded, but sympathetic. I expect most groups of players will be torn in the climax between killing him (which in the context of the game, would be terribly unjust), trying to save him and straight up siding with him. All of this contributes to an impressively melancholic sense of doom that pervades the entire campaign. Which, considering the way it all ends, is appropriate. This one has perhaps the best “make saving the world feel like a loss” endings in a Call of Cthulhu campaign yet.

Not a campaign for everyone, though. Its construction tends towards the linear (which, honestly, might be a relief coming off something like Masks) and its problems are largely psychological rather than physical – groups who revel in violence will not succeed here. Some players might also be uncomfortable with the psychological nature of the material.

A modern classic.