I adore this wonderful crocheted Cthulhu from The Yarning Portal. What makes it particularly notable is that H.P. Lovecraft himself was an avid knitter. In "A Means to Freedom: The Letters of H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard" there's a long series of letters describing their mutual love of yarn creations. Sadly, the crocheted versions of Conan and Cthulhu they mention have never been found.
This fantastic Cthulhu bust comes to us from Duncan Shadow. Click through to the full size image and you can get a real appreciation for the phenomenal texture work.
Wolfspirit4W brings us this collection of physical props and ephemera for their run of the "Curse of Strahd" campaign for Dungeons and Dragons. There are few things more effective than running a high-touch version of an already epic adventure series. If you're planning something similar, the one suggestion I would make is producing enough copies of every paper prop that each player can have their own. That allows them to do a running journal of the adventure with tons of inserts, akin to the grail diary from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. That would be an amazing keepsake.
This fantastic digital sculpt of Nyarlathotep comes to us from artist Alex Carratala. Click through for a full gallery and 360 degree view. It was directly inspired by Nyarlathotep's sonnet in Lovecraft's "The Fungi from Yuggoth".
This delightfully icky fungally infected fairy specimen comes to us from the talented Umbrateca. The powdery, threadlike hyphae are a fantastic detail.
The Monkey Rodeo returns to our pages after a long absence with this Polynesian-themed Cthulhu idol. I love the sculpt, but it really needs a wash to bring out the details like the inscription along the base.
"c.godzilla" has posted some great pictures of this outstanding Cthulhu idol, originally sculpted by the talented Keisuke Yoneyama.
This impressive barbarian warlord axe comes to us from Artdarme Workshop. It's wild to me that LARP safe weapons like this are par for the course these days.
I knew Prop Movie Money was the go-to site for fake United States currency, but I assumed it was all modern bills. Imagine my surprise when I discovered they also have a complete selection of cash from the 1920s. Just the thing for classic-era Mythos and pulp gaming. At $24.99 for 100 bills it's probably cheaper to buy from them than print your own.
While it's not a huge issue, I don't think their bills are accurately sized. Up until 1929, the Treasury, National Banks, and Federal Reserve issued "large format" notes measuring 7.37 inches by 3.12 inches. After that, they used our modern measurements of 6.14 by 2.61 inches.
I was also surprised to see Prop Movie Money had $2 bills in their 1920s collection. Turns out they were a thing in 1917 and 1918 before returning for a run in 1928. After that they wouldn't return until 1953.
I want to give a ringing endorsement of the Cthulhu Architect Handout site. It's one of the most practical, high-quality, and user-friendly tools available for game masters looking to up their game. Best of all, it's absolutely free.
Over 250 templates are available, the vast majority tailored to classic-era scenarios. The site allows you to generate authentic-looking 1920s documents in minutes, including standbys like telegrams, newspaper clippings, police reports, and handwritten notes. The interface is easy to use and allows you to customize every bit of text with a variety of typography and layout choices. You can even add "bloodstains" or coffee rings for that extra touch of wear. When you're done customizing your document they're easy to export for printing or digital use.
The focus is on period paperwork, but you'll also find a variety of modern templates. That includes contemporary drivers licenses, computer screens, and CCTV overlays. Just the thing if you're running a modern-era Mythos game like Delta Green.
While the site offers a wealth of functionality for free, the premium "Cultist" option provides more storage space, early access to new templates, and direct export to FoundryVTT. It's clear that this site was built by someone who loves the hobby. The interface is clean, the updates are frequent, and it's the perfect tool for game masters running a high-touch, handout heavy game.
The Hand of Glory is a foul bit of black magic that allows thieves to open all doors and travel undetected. It was first documented in the Petit Albert in the 18th century.
"Take the right or left hand of a felon who is hanging from a gibbet beside a highway; wrap it in part of a funeral pall and so wrapped squeeze it well. Then put it into an earthenware vessel with zimat, nitre, salt and long peppers, the whole well powdered. Leave it in this vessel for a fortnight, then take it out and expose it to full sunlight during the dog-days until it becomes quite dry. If the sun is not strong enough put it in an oven with fern and vervain. Next make a kind of candle from the fat of a gibbeted felon, virgin wax, sesame, and ponie, and use the Hand of Glory as a candlestick to hold this candle when lighted, and then those in every place into which you go with this baneful instrument shall remain motionless."
This particular specimen was acquired by Dan Baines, who is no stranger to these pages.
This nicely done "Dracula Pendant" comes to us from Russian artist Valeriya Belova. Wonderful craftsmanship. Click through for a gallery of shots, including a well produced video.
The Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives hosts a fantastic collection of vintage ephemera, much of it aimed at geneological research. It includes an extensive repository of classic-era ocean liner travel documents that would make ideal handouts for Call of Cthulhu and pulp games in the 1930s. A passage contract receipt is just about the perfect "show, don't tell" clue for figuring out where someone came from or was planning to travel to.
I normally loathe the whole "tiki Cthulhu" thing, but this... this I like. The stylized Cthulhu idol comes to us from Tikiheadz, who specializes in carving tiki idols from concrete. I like how it blends the forms of actual, historic tikis and the traditional Cthulhu depiction. Most polynesian Mythos takes lean far too much into the kitschy Trader Vic's aesthetic, and I say that as someone who loves the cheesiness of 50s era "South Seas" theming.
Looking for an interesting font for your arcane tome or spell scroll? Check out Dhingion Niginair from Pieter Rottiers. He's a prolific worldbuilder and conlang artist who has produced a number of languages and scripts for his fantasy world of Dardaniell. If you're really into full immersion, click through on the link to download the font and take advantage of phonetic pronunciations provided to build a complete document.
It's rare to come across a depiction of Hastur that doesn't embrace his King in Yellow form. Turkish artist Ebrahel Lurci brings us his take on the Unspeakable One, complete with a nicely done presentation case.
McCormick Wands returns to our pages with a trio of their "Aurora" style wizarding wands in Bolivian rosewood and maple. As always, and incredible level of craftsmanship on display.
Artedarme Workshop returns to our pages with their latest LARP weapon. This time it's a recreation of a 16th century Cinquedea dagger, based on an original in the Metropolitan Museum collection. If you're not familiar with this type of weapon you can learn more over on Wikipedia. It was one of the few daggers designed for slashing instead of piercing.
This is pretty cool. Thomas E. Shkurti has released a free Call of Cthulhu tabletop scenario set in gaslight-era Australia.
No Place of Honour is a tale of mystery, science, tragedy, time, and Victorian hubris, set deep in the Australian Outback in 1888. Investigators will be joining a medical aid mission to the remote mining settlement of Monument Station, which has been stricken by a mysterious plague- or, have the miners instead awakened an ancient, invisible killer?
The scenario includes 137 pages of slow-burn, sandbox exploration and investigation; with 6 full-color maps, 12 handouts, and 6 full-page illustrations, along with 6 pre-generated characters. It provides roughly 15-20 hours of play, and best accommodates a small group of 2 or 3 players.
The full scenario is available for free download from Google Drive here:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1kzbe9SAzUEmSycs1LHLsM1Lt6mxypo2L
Based on a quick read-through, it's an interesting period adventure with a great twist. (You can find out more about that by clicking through to Mr. Shkurti's Reddit post and looking at the spoiler text.) The complete adventure package includes an impressive collection of maps and handouts, exactly the kind of thing that's our bread and butter here at Propnomicon.
Kudos to Mr. Shkurti for an intriguing scenario and a willingness to share it with the community free of charge.
This sounds like the first act of a Mythos story, but it's absolutely true.
In the late 1950s the governments of Romania and Yugoslavia decided to move forward with the Iron Gate hydroelectric dam. The project would create a massive artificial lake, impounding the water of the Danube and flooding the banks of the river. Archeologists started to survey the soon to be inundated areas and discovered evidence of a previously unknown culture dating back to 7000 BCE. The buildings were arranged in a complex geometric pattern, and excavations uncovered dozens of idols depicting human/fish hybrids. Even stranger, it's the only European site where a "double sunrise" astronomical alignment has been found.
Author Dan Davis has a great look at the Lepenski Vir site over on YouTube. It's just the thing if you're looking to incorporate some real-world inspiration into a Mythos scenario. You can find even more information, including the effort to relocate the entire complex above the flood line, in the Wikipedia entry.
This Cthulhu plaque WIP shot comes to us from Irish artist Eoin McMorrow. I like how he's captured the organic shapes of a skull without directly mimicking a human skull.
Builder and former movie SFX artist Dave Fogler has a fun look at creating a prop bomb on a tight deadline for an upcoming film. He starts with a collection of reference photos approved by the director for the the overall look of the device. Then it's a matter of grabbing electronic bits and bobs to assemble the final prop. That includes recreating the look of plastic explosives using a decidedly low-tech approach- coating a cardboard box in clay and giving it a coat of paint.
Bonus: He actually pays attention to one of the biggest issues with a prop like this. Once it's done, how to you send it through the mail without having a SWAT team show up at your door?
BVDV14 brings us this recreation of the Babylonian Cthulhu idol featured in Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities series on Netflix. It's based on the original design created by artist and designer Guy Davis, one of the director's long-time collaborators.
Wax seals are one of the easiest ways to take tabletop RPG props to the next level. Christina Makes Things over on YouTube has posted a great video covering the basic technique and some more advanced procedures. That includes blending colors, highlighting, and the use of wax molds and sticker backings.
Model Margaret Kery brings us this stunning costume created by Brutal Workshop. It's a good example of how layers of texture add to each other to create a cumulative impression. You should click through to check out the complete photo series.
Danish artist Anders Lerche brings us this clay master sculpt for what is soon to be a latex Cthulhu mask.
One of the attractions of classic era Mythos gaming is the sheer romance of it all. Much of the world was still terra incognita in the 1920s. Expeditions to the dark corners of the earth (see what I did there?) were a prominent feature of pulp adventure in general and Lovecraft's work in particular. Miskatonic University made a habit of exploring the blank areas of the map, with teams heading to Australia in "The Shadow Out of Time" and the infamous Antarctic expedition of "At the Mountains of Madness".
That's one of the reasons I love things like this in-depth look at period camping gear from Waypoint Survival. Horace Kephart was one of the giants of recreational "roughing it" in the classic era. If you find the video interesting you'll definitely want to check out "The Book Of Camping And Woodcraft" it's based on. Digital copies are available for free over on archive.org.
Jason Soles of Gods Below has been producing some of the best Mythos and occult-adjacent artwork for years. What sets his work apart, beyond his unique style, is that his castings are actual metal. That includes this disturbing piece in bronze and sterling silver, the Chalice of Babylon.
Artist Andrei Pék brings us his growing collection of Soulframe props, including a Witan dagger, Wevetseed, Dracs and Regatta board.
The Museum of Cryprozoology and Occult Science brings us this creepy skull lyre made from a real human skull, antelope horns, skin, gut, and hair. What makes it particularly notable is the sheer meta-ness of the piece. It's a reproduction of an original in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art which itself was probably a gaff created in Africa.
"A highly unusual musical instrument in the Museum's collection is a lyre fashioned from a human skull. Although the piece has not been exhibited since before 1980, it gained fame in Jerzy Kosinski's 1982 best-selling novel Pinball—a rock 'n' roll mystery written for George Harrison—and perennially draws attention.
Not much is known about this instrument. It was purchased from an unnamed dealer at the end of the nineteenth century and was originally thought to have come from South America when it was cataloged in 1906, but was later reattributed to Central Africa. There is no known tradition to which this instrument may be assigned, although some have suggested it may have a symbolic or clandestine ritual use. Most likely it is a sensational item made by a clever indigenous entrepreneur for trade and profit with Europeans."
MilleCuirs returns to our pages with another fantastic project- the Red Tome. This time it's hand-tooled red leather on a multi-layered geometric design, adorned with brass studs and inset jewels. As always, absolutely beautiful work.
