Walker in the Wastes | Arctic Horror & Airships | CoC 7e

Creating your character

We'll build characters together in Session 0 — nothing to prepare beforehand except ideas. You'll play a member of a 1927 Arctic scientific expedition, so investigators should fit that frame: anthropologists, archaeologists, botanists, geologists, zoologists, physicians, photographers, artists, engineers, or wilderness guides. The campaign rewards a mix of academic and practical skill sets, and I'll help the group cover the essentials (someone who can patch wounds, someone who can navigate, someone who can read dead languages... eventually). Mechanics: standard Call of Cthulhu 7th edition rules from the Keeper Rulebook / Investigator Handbook, rolled characteristics with a safety-net array option so nobody gets stuck with an unplayable investigator. Sheets live on Roll20 and I'll walk you through every step — zero system experience required. A few campaign-specific skills (Land Navigation, Sea/Air Navigation, Botany, Forensics) are available and worth a look; I'll explain where they shine. Pre-generated investigators are available if you'd rather jump straight in or join mid-campaign. Fair warning, as is tradition in Call of Cthulhu: this is a long, dangerous campaign, and investigator death or madness is a real possibility. There are natural points throughout the story to introduce replacement characters, and I'll work with you so a new investigator joins the expedition quickly and plausibly.

Preparing for the session

Before Session 0: 1. Create a free Roll20 account (character sheets, maps, handouts, and dice all live there — nothing to install). 2. Join our Discord server (invite arrives via StartPlaying after booking) — we use it for voice during sessions and scheduling/table talk between them. 3. Have a working microphone. That's it. No rulebook purchase and no reading required — I provide everything else. If you want to set the mood, the campaign draws on the real history of the 1845 Franklin Expedition, which is a fascinating rabbit hole — but you'll discover everything you need at the table.

What Michael brings to the table

A fully prepped Roll20 game: period maps, remastered handouts from the original 1994 campaign, NPC portraits, location imagery, and atmospheric soundscapes for everything from a creaking expedition hut to the roar of an airship engine. My table style: investigation-forward, theater-of-the-mind combat with maps where tactics matter, and NPCs played as people — this campaign's cultists have families, day jobs, and reasons, which makes everything worse. I lean Rules-as-Written with Rule-of-Cool exceptions when a great idea deserves to work. Horror builds slowly; I pace sessions so each one ends somewhere memorable. Between sessions you get recaps in Discord, and I keep the campaign's ongoing timeline visible so the group can plan — this story has a deadline, and the cult is not waiting for you.

Homebrew rules

This is a faithful 7th-edition conversion of a 5th-edition campaign; conversions follow Chaosium's official guidelines. Two table rules from the original text I keep: the group Luck roll (the party's fate sometimes rides on its unluckiest member) and campaign-specific skills like Land Navigation and Sea/Air Navigation that make Arctic travel meaningfully dangerous rather than a montage. Sanity rewards and penalties follow the campaign's published schedule at chapter ends.

How Michael creates a safe table

Session 0 covers expectations, tone, and boundaries before we roll a single die. I use Lines & Veils (collected privately via a short form, so nobody has to explain themselves at the table) plus a digital X-card available at any time in Discord — no questions asked, we fade to black and move on. We take a short break every 90 minutes or so. A note specific to this campaign: it engages with Inuit culture and 1920s attitudes. The source material treats Inuit tradition with research and respect, and so do I — period bigotry is background texture handled with care, never a spotlight, and never directed at player characters. The horror here comes from the Mythos, the cold, and hard choices, not from cruelty at the table. After heavy sessions I stick around for a debrief — Stars and Wishes — and I check in privately if a session landed hard on anyone. My door (and DMs) are always open.