The Golden Dawn

The Golden Dawn is a Horror Fiction supplement published under license by Pagan Publishing in 1996 for Chaosium's horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. Contents The Golden Dawn is a sourcebook that describes the Victorian-era secret occult society called the Golden Dawn that included among its members William Butler Yeats and Aleister Crowley. Gamemasters can use the book to bolster their campaign, and to help interested players create player character Investigators currently serving as active members of the society. The book details notable members of the Golden Dawn, expected meeting places and other locales, and the society's secret rites and magical rituals. The book also includes four adventure scenarios. Publication history Chaosium originally set their 1981 horror role-playing game Call of Cthulhu in 1920s New England, the same setting as many of the fictional works of H.P. Lovecraft. 1986's Cthulhu by Gaslight moved the setting to Victorian England. The Golden Dawn, published under license by Pagan Publishing in 1996, is also set in the Victorian era, a 192-page softcover book designed by Scott Aniolowski, Carrie Hall, Steve Hatherley, Alan Smithee, John T. Snyder, and John Tynes, with artwork by Dennis Detwiller and Daniel Gelon, and cover art by John T. Snyder. Reception In the July 1996 edition of Arcane (Issue #8), Steve Faragher gave this book an average rating of 7 out of 10 and cautioned that "There's certainly some excellent information about the Golden Dawn contained in this book, but if you're at all like me, you'll be keeping your players at the outskirts of the Golden Dawn's power structure. Beyond that I can heartily recommend this sourcebook for its superb scenarios, even though you might think it's a bit expensive for that alone."