What’s that lurking in the shadows, Investigator? It appears to be a clue leading to the resurrected Trail of Cthulhu Bundle. Yes, in May 2015 we brought back the Trail Bundle, one of the most successful collections in Bundle of Holding history.
Trail of Cthulhu is Kenneth Hite’s investigative horror RPG from Pelgrane Press that uses the GUMSHOE System created by Robin D. Laws. Not long ago, you may recall, we revived our hugely successful September 2013 Bundle of GUMSHOE, featuring Ashen Stars, Night’s Black Agents, Mutant City Blues, Fear Itself, and assorted scenarios. The GUMSHOE rules never force players to hunt for clues — which can be frustrating for players and Gamemaster alike — but instead let the characters find the clues automatically and make the players interpret them. No more spending an entire game session waiting for the Investigators to uncover that one book in the library; the real fun is in figuring out what the book means.
The bestselling of all GUMSHOE games is Trail of Cthulhu, which cleverly adapts and expands the system to support two styles of play. “Purist” style aims for the feel of a classic Mythos story of ordinary people struggling to survive against dreadful cosmic entities. The other style, “Pulp,” pits strong heroes against unearthly monsters and might actually survive. Depending on the rules tweaks you use, you can have dramatically different experiences. Yet the familiar trappings of investigative horror are still there, including sanity, unearthly monsters, and a dark atmosphere. Thanks to clever rules and quality scenarios, Trail of Cthulhu takes familiar tropes and makes them fresh again — and frightening.
Our collection of DRM-free, non-watermarked .PDFs and .MP3 music tracks provided everything you need to uncover dark plots and shoot demented cultists. Our Starter Collection included four titles (retail value $43):
- Trail of Cthulhu (retail price $21): The complete rulebook of investigative horror set in the 1930s. Because Trail uses the GUMSHOE System, it’s not about hunting for clues but interpreting them — figuring how they solve the mystery.
- Stunning Eldritch Tales (retail $9): Four adventures for the Pulp style by GUMSHOE System designer Robin D. Laws.
- Keeper’s Resource Book & Screen (retail $8): A book for Keepers with clues, benefits, NPCs, and information about life in the 1930s. Includes a .PDF with all the tables you need to run a Trail game.
- Four Shadows (retail $5): Atmospheric music by James A. Semple to enhance your Trail sessions.
Customers who paid more than the threshold price got a +2 boost to their Negotiation rating — which is to say, they also received these six bonus supplements:
- The Armitage Files (retail $17): Ten mysterious documents by Robin D. Laws offers filled with clues, along with clear advice for the Keeper on how to improvise sandbox-style adventures based on the players’ interpretations.
- Bookhounds of London (retail $20): Kenneth Hite’s brilliant campaign setting of disreputable hustlers who sell rare Mythos texts — and sometimes defend humanity from their own customers.
- The Book of The Smoke (retail $13): Also known as The Occult Guide to London, Paula Dempsey’s companion volume to Bookhounds is a primer for playing in the dismal fog of 1930s London.
- Arkham Detective Tales Extended Edition (retail $9): Five labyrinthine law-enforcement investigations by Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan.
- Rough Magicks (retail $6): Kenneth Hite explains the rules of magick for Investigators and Mythos creatures alike.
- NEW! Hideous Creatures: Shoggoth (retail $3): Ken Hite’s extended analysis of everyone’s favorite boiling black blob. Everyone who’s already purchased this offer receives this new addition automatically. Yes, that includes everyone who bought it back in April 2014. That’s your reward for buying early.
If you paid full price for all these .PDFs, you’d spend nearly $108.
