I’ve read a bunch of Cthulhu by Gaslight material, but this marks the first time I’ve actually run a game of it.  I found myself enjoying it quite a bit, even though 1890s England is in no way one of my historic knowledge strengths.  Still, researching London and its suburb of Hammersmith was fun.  Running this scenario was enjoyable, though I did make some alterations.

First, this is short.  It only really includes a few encounters, and some of them could be missed or skipped.  You might consider expanding things a bit, or if you’re weaving it into a longer game, crafting some links.  It has a few places where it would be easy to drop in some book, clue, object, or information for a future story if you had one in mind.  I suspect, due to its length, it would make for a good game to run at a convention.

The adventure takes the PCs from a social club in the heart of London to Hammersmith, a village that has by this point become the outer western part of the city.  Though I didn’t find out exactly when Hammersmith was officially absorbed by the city, you can look at the map and see that there isn’t really a break in the urban fabric between the two.  That did prompt one problem.  One of the key moments in the scenario involves crossing the Hammersmith Bridge (the original one, which would be replaced with the current one a few years later).  However, I see no reason why PCs would choose to leave the city, cross the River Thames, travel along it, then cross back into Hammersmith.  Perhaps there is something I’m missing.  I fudged things and said the hansom cab driver thought it best to avoid the city streets, which might be crowded and unpleasant.

As I said, I did a few modifications.  Mostly, it was making it more clear that once they arrive, they’re totally stuck and cut off from the greater city.  I had planned to make the wandering party of ghost hunters into something more strange, but that never came up.  I also planned to make Diafrith’s connection to Nyarlathotep much more clear and powerful, but little of that ended up making it into session.  I took XP Lovecat’s suggestion and added in a special spear to be used in combat with the apparition.  I thought it would be cool to make it a Roman spear, hinting at the Spear of Destiny or even the possible Roman connections to Arthurian mythology.

The Hammersmith Haunting is the kind of scenario that could easily start a campaign or be woven into one.  But it could also work very well as a stand-alone.  There are some elements that are fascinating, but are mostly for the Keeper, possibly as a way to expand things.  Diafrith’s origin and her sisters, for example, don’t really play into anything, in spite of them seemingly being important.  I suppose they make good seeds for further stories.

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