In the smoke-filled, mahogany-paneled corridors of the tabletop role-playing world, the “mini-campaign” has become a vital currency for adults who don’t have consecutive weekends to adventure. Chaosium’s latest entry into this middle ground, The Order of the Stone, combines three parts to create 144-pages of transatlantic horror.
Released in September 2024, The Order of the Stone is a three-act descent into cosmic indifference. Written primarily by Jared Twing, with contributions from veterans Lynne Hardy and Paul Fricker, the book attempts to solve a perennial problem for the Call of Cthulhu line: how to offer a cinematic, consequential story that doesn’t require a group to sign a multi-year social contract.
The Anatomy of an Eldritch Pursuit
The narrative arc is a classic piece of Lovecraftian clockwork. It begins in the damp, ancient soil of Ireland, where an archaeological team unearths three stone urns. These vessels, we soon learn, are not mere relics but a fragmented prison for a new entity in the Chaosium canon: Agon-Thalos, the “Lord of Silence.”
The first act, Terror on the RMS Scythia, is a claustrophobic masterclass in maritime dread. Investigators find themselves aboard a massive Cunard ocean liner drifting toward New England—a ship that has become a floating ossuary. It is here that the campaign establishes its stakes: the passengers have been sacrificed to satisfy the hunger of a leaking god.
The subsequent chapters move the action to the town of Grafton and finally into the rural backwoods of Massachusetts. Unlike many sprawling campaigns that rely on globetrotting to create scale, The Order of the Stone narrows its focus, pitting the players against two warring factions: The Summoners, who wish to liberate the entity, and the titular Order of the Stone, a group whose methods are often as questionable as the horrors they seek to contain.
Intentions and Design
To understand the book’s DNA, one must look at the editorial vision. In an interview regarding the release, Lynne Hardy, Chaosium’s associate editor, noted that the book focuses on themes of human complacency. “The themes that stood out as we edited it was people taking things for granted,” Hardy observed, pointing to “people believing that the way they were asked to do certain things is just kind of like for show… things are not what they seem.”
Hardy also clarified that while the book introduces a new Great Old One, it was designed to be multifunctional. It serves as a gateway to the Miskatonic Valley for novices while providing enough mechanical meat for veterans. This versatility is underscored by the inclusion of six pre-generated investigators and a suite of Keeper aids that anticipate player deviation—a feature praised by early adopters for reducing the cognitive load on the Game Master.
Fitting the Mythos
In the broader ecosystem of Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition, this book serves as a stabilizer. It is an acknowledgment that the modern player often has more enthusiasm than time. By providing a campaign that can be finished in roughly six to eight sessions, Chaosium is courting players who wants the gravitas of a global conspiracy without the logistical nightmare of a twenty-chapter campaign.
The Order of the Stone offers a polished, professional, and accessible mystery that is perfect for newer players or those who want shorter adventures. It is an investigative procedural where the suspect is a god, the crime scene is an ocean liner, and the evidence is written in the blood of the innocent.
The Order of the Stone Investigators
While you can certainly bring your own investigators to Ireland, The Order of the Stone shines when using the six included pre-generated characters. These characters are tailor-made for the specific narrative beats of this three-act structure. They have reasons to be in Ireland, reasons to board that ship, and specific skill sets designed to crack the clues ahead. Using these characters significantly lowers the cognitive load for the Keeper. Here is an archetypal breakdown of the six investigators provided:
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The Academic Antiquarian: Every Cthulhu scenario needs someone who can read Latin under duress. This character is the narrative anchor to the prologue’s archaeological dig with high Library Use and History.
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The War-Weary Veteran: This archetype brings combat experience and physical resilience to the table, acting as the shield between the squishier academics and the horrors in the ship’s hold.
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The Skeptical Journalist: High Persuade or Fast Talk skills are essential when you need to navigate the social ecosystem of a transatlantic voyage.
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The Occult Scholar: Someone who already knows the world is stranger than it seems. They act as an early warning system for supernatural dread.
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The Blue-Collar Pragmatist: With skills like Mechanical Repair or Electrical Repair, they are vital for the physical survival of the group when the ship’s systems begin to fail.
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The Private Investigator: Possessing high Spot Hidden and Listen, they are the ones who notice the clues that don’t match human physiology.
The Floating Tomb: The SS Champagne Deck Plans
If the investigators are the heart of the campaign, the RMS Scythia is its claustrophobic ribcage. Act One takes place almost entirely aboard this liner. Chaosium’s solution to the logistical nightmare of ship-based play is a set of deck plans that have been highly praised for their utility.
The Scythia is essentially a massive, floating haunted house. The deck plans allow for movement, chases, and managing line of sight during stealth sequences. The maps were designed with Virtual Table Tops (VTT) in mind so they are high-resolution and ready to drop straight into a digital game.
The Verdict
By providing both a cohesive team of investigators and a meticulously detailed primary location, The Order of the Stone allows the Keeper to focus their energy on atmosphere and pacing, rather than mechanics and logistics. It’s a toolbox designed to let you get straight to the scaring
