Hands of Nyarlathotep

Hands of Nyarlathotep is a Call of Cthulhu Supplement from Zgrozy, a Polish publishing house releasing content through the Miskatonic Repository. Clocking in at 14 pages, it’s part of the Devilarium series, a collection of monsters and antagonists for Keepers to terrify their players.

So, what’s it all about? Well, we’re all familiar with the Masks, or avatars, of Nyarlathotep. These include possessed humans, as well as humanoid beings such as the Black Pharaoh and the Tick Tock Man, and monstrous ones like The Bloody Tongue. Each can be said to contain an aspect of the Crawling Chaos.

Hands of Nyarlathotep, on the other hand, are not connected to Nyarlathotep quite so closely. They are individuals who have undertaken a ritual to anoint themselves as sacrifices to Nyarlathotep and the outer gods. When this happens, they establish a bond with him, quickly attaining magical knowledge and power. This will confer enormous advantages for a time, but nothing lasts forever. Eventually, their bond with Nyarlathotep will transform them into marionettes, pulled by strings they will never see or understand.

Sounds cool, right? Game-wise, the Hand of Nyarlathotep is easy to use and understand. First off, ‘Hand of Nyarlathotep’ is a ritual spell that could reasonably be found in any tome. So any entity capable of casting a spell could become a Hand. Most likely, it would be an NPC, but the posssibility exists for Mythos creatures, or even players to undertake the ritual.

Being a Hand of Nyarlathotep confers enormous spellcasting, Power (POW) and Cthulhu Mythos boosts, at the expense of Sanity. You gain more than you lose, so it’s a pretty good deal. Until it’s not—the sanity loss doesn’t stop, and it’s a finite resource. Non-player-characters are the most obvious candidates for becoming a Hand, but Keepers can put the spell in any tome, and give their players the option too.

All this begs the question: why would anyone choose to become a Hand? Well, an individual might already worship a Mythos entity, or just be deluded. But perhaps the reason could be to attain power. Sure, that would attract a lot of sociopaths and nihilists, but that’s not all. The possibility exists that a good person, desperate to make a positive contribution to the world, might knowingly sacrifice themselves in order to help others. That’s where things get interesting. One thing is assured: things aren’t going to end well when Nyarlathotep is involved.

Game-wise, there are a couple of things to know. First, Nyarlathotep is a servant of the gods, and is connected to them, as are his Hands. That means Hands may be compelled to serve the whims of any number of gods. Being a Hand chips away at a character’s sanity, and whenever a character has a bout of madness they are compelled to serve the whims of a god. To this end, six tables are provided, and rolling on them will give you the whims of Nyarlathotep and five other gods. Be warned, some of the results may be disturbing, so a frank discussion with your players or the use of safety tools is necessary. Zgrozy creations are for mature players and offer a higher level of horror than the standard Chaosium fare: think M- or R-rated rather than PG-13, and you’ll be on the right track.

This makes Hands extremely versatile and interesting; they might serve Nyarlathotep exclusively, or he might ‘farm them out’, requiring them to serve another god. Doing this allows the Keeper to tailor Hands to whatever narrative is unfolding in the game. Perhaps a powerful antagonist is a Hand: their actions may change according to whichever entity is involved in the current scenario. Or perhaps the players find an equally powerful ally who, as it turns out, is close to losing their humanity. How long can they hold out, and can anything be done to save them? (Spoiler alert: the answers are 1. not long, and 2. nothing, but the players don’t know that).

To this end, four sample Hands are provided: one from the Gaslight Era, two from the 1920s, and one modern Hand. Each differs in terms of their initial motivation to undergo the ritual, as well as in how far along they are in their decline. Story seeds are given for each of them, and including them in your current campaign would be simple.

In addition to this, advice is provided on using Mythos creatures as Hands, as well as tips on using Hands in your games, or even basing a campaign on one or more of them.

Hands of Nyarlathotep is an excellent supplement that packs a ton of utility and fun into a small package, and at a nice price. Highly recommended.

Get it at Drivethrurpg

Psst…if you’re after the harder stuff, why not try Blackwater Creek or Fairyland? How about a bit of Nameless Horrors? They’ll knock your socks off.