Kal El’s Cthulhu campaign timeline
Context
I’m going to start a Cthulhu d20 game (my first d20 mastering, my first Cthulhu game in 15 years).
But the world I’m going to play on will be kind of a DC Universe gone wrong so by the XXth century there are almost no heroes or villains, mixed with many pulp and TV series). A dark world but not so dark as most Cthulhu worlds (there’s hope and an interesting future for humankind… if they can sort all the troubles).
I’m writing a timeline for the game (as the characters will come from different times and settings: typical D&D world, Hyborian Age, Mythic Greece, 1890-1930, 2005).
Chronology
8.000.000.000 years ago
The Guardians of the Universe and the Old Ones honor Yog-Sothoth by merging 8 of each and becoming Lords of Time.
150.000.000 years ago
The Yithians abduct Nathaniel Adams.
50.000.000 years ago
The Yithians travel 120 million years into the future, to a world ruled by cockroaches.
15.000.000 years ago
Time travels from Earth change the Martians’ development and directs them towards violence and war.
8.000.000 years ago
For having dared to create life without Shub-Niggurath’s permission, Cthulhu is doubly punished. He is trapped in R’lyeh, and Mankind is gifted with a sparkle of each of the Trinity of Gods… That sparkle becomes soul, and thus Humans become the only beings with souls in the universe
7.000.000 years ago
Flying Polyps kill one Lord of Time.
3.000.000 years ago
Martians self-destruct in a war. Mi-Gos from Yuggoth invade Mars.
1.000.000 years ago
Darkseid is born.
700.000 years ago
Vandal Savage becomes immortal after a meteorite impregnated by Shub-Niggurath collides with him.
450.000 years ago
Prometheus steals fire from the Elder Gods. He is punished.
400.000 years ago
Pandora opens a portal/box that binds Chagnar Faughn, Y’Golonac, Mordiggian and (the god concerned with plagues, I can’t remember the name) to Earth.
250.000 years ago
Nodens arranges for the Abraham Tribe to stop sacrificing their sons.
200.000 years ago
Wendigo runs loose for 40 days and nights. World Deluge.
100.000 years ago
Darkseid pacts with the Outer Gods.
circa 80.000 BC
The New Gods either die, become Outer Gods or flee the universe. New Genesis explodes… thus creating a Godwave, and killing a 2nd Lord of Time.
c.83.000 BC
Bertron is experimenting on Krypton when the Godwave reaches it. Doomsday is born.
c.56.000 BC
Ar-Thor expels the Serpent Men from Atlantis.
52.616 BC
Darkseid rules Thanagar. Atlantis sinks due to the evil actions of a groups of Cthulhu cultists against King Kull and Arion. Sorcerer Flagg flees with Shub-Niggurath’s Rod (made with Savage’s meteorite) and other treasures, but loses some. Nyarlathotep is impressed by human greed… and becomes a bit greedy himself. He starts plotting against the Outer Gods
48.000-38.000 BC
Hyborian Age.
44.000 BC
Start of the Hydra-Poseidonis war.
43.970 BC
Cimmerian chief Crom-Ya is possessed by a Yithian.
c.18.000 BC
Darkseid kills the Guardians of the Universe. There will be no Millennium.
c.16.000 BC
The last Green Lantern dies.
c.15.000 BC
The Godwave reaches Earth. A woman with a higher than usual sparkle of Shub-Niggurath “transcends”, becoming Gaea.
c.14.500 BC
A man with a higher than usual sparkle of Azathoth “transcends”, becoming Uranus.
c.14.000 BC
A man with a higher than usual sparkle of Yog-Sothoth “transcends”, becoming Cronus. He takes the place of the 3rd Lord of Time.
c.12.000 BC
Zeus takes Olympus. Mythic Age (the “Human” gods will answer).
9674 BC
Darkseid kills the 4th Lord of Time.
6576 BC
The Amazons incarnate.
4648-4390 BC
Gaea teaches magic to the Amazon Circe.
4111 BC
Hercules captures the Amazons.
4108 BC
Most Amazons flee to Themiscyra. The few remaining on Earth keep praying to Gaea.
4039 BC
Hercules rescues Prometheus from the Shantak that was devouring him.
4030 BC
Darkseid finishes all the Daxamites.
3995 BC
Flagg manages to make Hercules commit suicide.
3270 BC
The Scorpion King joins the tribes against Memnon.
3259 BC
Scorpion King sells his soul to Glaaki to win his last battle.
2987 BC
Nabu and his priests destroy Nephren-Ka’s dark temple.
2800-2720 BC
Katar Hol and Shayera’s minds are hosted in two bodies.
2620 BC
Yig steals the minds of the “hawks”. Y’Golonac possess Nabu and the Helmet destroys him; his lover Bastet swears vengeance.
2519-2200 BC
Vandal Savage pharaoh.
2200-2118 BC
Teth-Adam pharaoh.
2118-2094 BC
Flagg pharaoh.
1450 BC
The “human” gods stop talking to Humankind (Nyarlathotep is somewhat involved, whether they are dead or not). Themiscyra becomes isolated. Atlanteans turn to the Cthulhu Magic to let their cities survive.
38 AD
Servants of Gaea/Mary start being considered evil (that is, witches).
VIII-XVth centuries
Vampire: Dark Ages.
Somewhere in the Xth century
Ash Williams is thrown into this time from the XXth, fetches the Necronomicon, misspells a ritual and ends fighting an army of skeletons.
945 AD
Five years before translating the Necronomicon, Philetas has a vision and writes it in a text called “Mellon” (Future). The book includes cryptic prophecies of the “10 Nights of the Beast”, 10 years in a row that will put the world on the edge to Apocalypse.
999
Yehudi Levi translates “Mellon” to Hebrew with the name “’Achariyth”.
1083-1088
Sorcerer Randall Flagg tries to rule over England, but the rightful heir to the throne, Peter, saves the day.
1271
Spanish monk Gregorio Borja translates “’Achariyth” into its watered Spanish version “Porvenires”.
1358
Vandal Savage searches for Unknown Kadath. Nyarlathotep kills him while doing so, and adopts his body as one of his masks.
1493
Torquemada burns every copy of the “Porvenires”… but for 3.
1549
Solomon Kane is born.
1592-1605
Kane explores the dark corners of Africa and discovers the legend of a white powerful man, once a pirate: The Phantom.
1712
“Vandal Savage” kills the 5th Lord of Time.
1790
Frankenstein builds its creature with help from Yuggoth.
1855
Darkseid conquers Colu for his masters.
1865
Abe Sapien is born.
1895
English explorers trying to find the Olympus of legend disappear in a great explosion inside a mountain.
1896
Dracula.
1898
The League of the Extraordinary Gentlemen. The Time Machine departs to the distant future.
1899
Abraham Van Helsing “finishes” Dracula. Henry Jones Jr. is born.
1901
Doc Savage, Flash Gordon and the last Phantom are born.
1902
Professor Challenger explores the Lost World.
1904
Mars attacks (only they are not Martians but Mi-Go).
1905
Herbert West starts experimenting with Victor Frankenstein’s notes and Mi-Go machinery. He is successful but the corpse runs away.
1910
The whole world falls into a deep coma for 48 hours. Only Professor Challenger and his friends watch it.
1914-1919
First World War.
1920
James Bond (the Lazenby one) is born.
1922
Darkseid dies after meeting the Anti-Life Equation: Azathoth. The Shadow starts a brief but intensive career in Chicago
1925
Flash Gordon loses all credit when he tries to convince everybody that planet Mongo wants to invade Earth. It’s all been a hoax orchestrated by alien forces to neutralize Flash (there’s really no Mongo nor Emperor Ming… although Flash did journey into space and met some alien races, and even defeated some of them, freeing Thanagar and Rann).
1929
Indiana Jones visit the Dreamlands while on a journey to Easter Island.
1932
The galactic empire of Darkseid collapses in a myriad of factions; one of them based on Alpha Centauri, keeps faithful to terrible gods.
1934
The Shadow dies in a mission.
1935
First (secret) war vs. the Deep Ones. Flash Gordon dies in the arms of his friend Jay Garrick, who was not fast enough to save him. Indiana Jones saves Sankara stones.
1936
The nazis find the Lost Ark.
1937
Despite the failure in using the Ark, Hitler is awarded membership in the Cthule Society.
1938
Hitler finds the Spear of Destiny and kills the 6th Lord of Time with it. Indiana Jones finds the Grail.
1939-1945
Mordiggian moves the threads of the Final Solution.
1939
Bastet chooses the first Cat-Woman in 1000 years. At Themiscyra, Princess Diana is born. The second World War starts. Indiana Jones finds the sunken remains of Atlantis.
1940
Indiana Jones meets, fights and wins over the god Eihort at the Indian Ocean.
1943
The Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense is born.
1944
Sorcerer Rasputin dies while calling Cthulhu. Hellboy is found.
1946
Nyarlathotep tries to convince Indiana to build the Philosopher’s Stone, but he resists the temptation.
1947
Barry Allen is born. Indiana destroys an artifact to travel between dimensions at the Babel Tower.
1950
The last Phantom dies without a heir. He gives Indiana Jones the secrets of the Skull.
1955
Krypton explodes when Cthugha messes with Rao.
1956
James Bond vs. Dr. No.
1958
Hitler dies and the Spear is lost in Mexico. The Occult Wars end. James Bond vs. Goldfinger.
1959-63
James Bond vs. SPECTRE.
1963
Inspired by the Phantom story told by Indiana Jones, who finds him on the Pacific, James Bond becomes the new M and passes the flame to a new Bond (Connery Bond). Henry Jones Sr. retires to the Grail Temple to protect it.
1964
Oliver Queen is born.
1970
Barry Allen finds Jay Garrick’s diary and takes the name of Flash after receiving superspeed powers in a chemistry accident.
1973
Father Karras and Father Merrin exorcise the child Regan from possession from a Tcho-Tcho.
1975
Dr Who (a Time Lord) and Doc Savage defeat the Daleks… at the price of Doc Savage’s life.
1978
Bruce Wayne is born at Arkham.
1983
The whole Omega Men group gives their lives to save Kara, baby grand-daughter of Arion sent through time, from Doomsday.
1985
Bond II becomes the next M. Bond III (Dalton) fumbles his first mission: saving Thomas and Martha Wayne.
1986
Aging at superspeed, Barry Allen “dies” running against a tachyon to save Earth… but in fact he (body, mind and soul) reaches the Dreamlands, turned into a living ray of light.
1987
Kal-El’s spaceship reaches Earth in a meteor shower over Smallville.
1989
Ash finds the Necronomicon in the present day and awakens a dead witch by reading a Ritual.
1993
Bond III dies on a mission. Bond IV (Brosnan) fills his shoes.
1997
Fox Mulder meets Dana Scully at the X-File branch of FBI.
1998
Bruce Wayne directs Wayne Enterprises. Unknown to him, he has developed a double personality (heavily influenced by The Shadow’s spectre) which cleans Arkham of criminals.
2000
Signals of the 10 Nights of the Beast being close at hand. The Blair Witch Project. Green Arrow dies fighting “druglords” in Alaska (really cultists of Hastur).
2001
Indiana Jones dies the first day of the century. Astronaut Bowman finds a monolith at the moon, and doing so he stops Apocalypse. That day on, he starts seeing the future of the people he touches.
2002
Bastet chooses a new Catwoman to stop the second Night of the Beast.
2003
John Constantine stops the third Night of the Beast and recovers the Spear of Destiny. Clark Kent saves Lex Luthor’s life in a car accident.
2004
Hellboy defeats Rasputin in the fourth Night of the Beast and casts out an Outer God. Professor Swann tells Clark of his alien roots.
2005
A Spanish time machine is sent to the past to stop the building of 5 Power Places in different eras that would allow the Old Ones to walk Earth without being invoked. Kara, as Power Girl, saves Clark and inspires him by dying against Doomsday… but ridding Earth of the monster.
2006 AD
Bowman is claimed by Yog-Sothoth and accepts, halting the 6the Night of the Beast. Mulder disappears.
2007
The X-Files are closed. Cthulhu has a chance to emerge from R’lyeh (it’s the PCs’s job to stop it, in tight collaboration with Scully and Skinner).
2008
Clark discovers Bruce Wayne’s double personality. A new expedition reaches the Mountains of Madness in Antarctica (the PCs travel to the Dreamlands, where now-luminous Barry Allen gives them knowledge of a dreadful conspiracy.
2009
V (TV series invasion): the hordes of Yig disguise themselves as humanoid aliens and invade Earth. Clark, Bruce, Mike Donovan, Regan and other heroes fight the invasion.
2010
Jupiter briefly turns into a second sun before disappearing from the solar system. Yuggoth, Saturn and Mars try to stop it from happening. The 10 Nights of the Beast will have finished.
2011
Crisis: every creature of the Myths (even the Outer Gods) must seek refuge in another dimension , when immensely powerful beings absorb their very energy. After 6 months they come back.
2012
Superman makes his public debut. Batman “disappears” as Clark helps his mind heal.
2020-2028
Lex Luthor, president of the USA. He is an agent for the serpent people until 2026, when Clark saves his mind.
2030-2043
World War III – Atomic War.
2030
Lois Lane, Lana Lang and Bruce Wayne all die in the war. Superman voluntarily exiles himself into space because he is made radioactive from long exposure to atomic weapons and because his warnings were not heard by the nations of the world.
2031
Escape from NY.
2039
Akira.
2041
Escape from LA.
2090
Wrongly escaping from the middle ages, Ash arrives in an atomic wasteland.
c.2150
Mad Max, Hex, Batman 2050.
2312
Earth starts a war against the Centauri Empire.
2330
Weyland-yutani finds the Aliens while exploring space in search of a hole in the Centaurian net.
2387
By accident, a man is abduced from 1914 and becomes a variable in the war. The war is lost… but man learns FTL travel.
2410
Booster disappears while studying the legend of Superman.
2414
IVth World War: the second atomic war awakens Cthulhu. The stars are right, this time, and they will be for some centuries.
2414-2819
Cthulhu reigns on Earth for 407 years. FTL technology is lost. There will be no Legion.
2820-3312
Waterworld. Arthur Curry, the Sub-Mariner becomes a legendary hero. 2nd war vs. the Deep Ones.
3250
Nyarlathotep kills the 7th Lord of Time and becomes Lord himself for 700.000 years, concentrating power to some day dethrone Yog-Sothoth. The Chrononaut from the Time Machine (see 1898) is kept from returning until then, but Bowman comes out of the Crawling Chaos power, protected by the All-in-One.
3312-4750
Water level starts lowering.
5035
The Aliens and the Tsan-Chan Empire arrive on the Earth. Only 100 million people in the whole world. But they fight bravely for 550 years commanded by Bruce Wayne, resurrected by a Lazarus Pit.
5570
The Alien War ends. Mankind wins but it’s dangerously on the verge of extinction. Wayne stops using the Pit.
5600-5900
Planet of the Apes.
c.6500
Other animals start evolving like apes did.
7804-7814
Kamandi finds Shub-Niggurath’s Rod and finally opens the Gate to Themiscyra. Mankind starts growing again.
9501
Diana teaches Peace to Mankind. Cthulhu sees it as an opportunity, but Nyarlathotep doesn’t allow the stars to be right for him.
c.20.000
The Daleks rule Earth from some time. Dr Who fights them.
c.30.000
Carcosa appears on Earth. Hastur walks freely on Earth. Doomsday returns to the planet and opposes Hastur relentlessly, dying millions of times, for 13.000 years.
c.58.000
Cthugha eats our sun. Nodens, Bowman and Superman leave Jupiter in its place.
62.000-800.000
The longest peace period in the whole history of Mankind.
790.000 years from now
Yog-Shothoth possesses Dr. Who and forces him to fight and defeat Nyarlathotep.
800.000 years from now
Eloi.
802.000 years from now
Superman dies so Oa’s Central Battery frees all the energy cumulated during aeons. The Old Ones come back, but also all the Mortal Gods, and with them divine and arcane magic.
850.000 years from now
A D&D world flourishes. Elves, gnomes and halflings come from the stars, as humans evolved from the few colonies set on 2387-2414 return to the world.
1.700.000 years from now
All the Gods (Mythic, Old Ones, Outer…) pact not to interfere in the universe, as mortals have become too powerful to be an easy prey. They meld their whole cosmic essence in a single neutral but vital energy (with the help of the Source) that will be called The Force.
2.200.000 years from now
Star Wars universe.
72.000.000 years from now
Yithian cockroaches rule an Earth devoid of humans.
10.000.000.000 years from now
Azathoth, blind and stupid, chooses leaving the Force and becoming a new entity. Doomdsday (immune to everything any other being in the universe has thrown to him) fights him for the rest of time, canceling the danger it means to any other being.