Back during the years 1997-2000 when I was a member in good standing of the heavily gaming oriented Little Rock Science Fiction Society (LRSFS), they had the attitude that by the mid-1980's, all he innovation in the creation of roleplaying games (RPGs) had withered away. That being the case, they believed that chronologically, the very last RPG ever created that was worth playing was the 1986 Chaosium effort Masks of Nyarlathotep.
Although this was originally created for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu system, it can be easily adjusted to play in other role-playing systems. This alone makes this an unusually good game. The fact that it is generally considered the single best game ever based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft makes it even better.
This game's background concerns an archaeological expedition led by a wealthy New York playboy who comes across as a slightly insane 1920's version of Hugh Hefner. The expedition discovered something big in Egypt, but the leader chose to keep ti a secret while the expedition proceeded deeper into Darkest Africa. However, the expedition was reportedly destroyed in Kenya by the natives. An author who is also a respected authority on archaeology has uncovered something about the expedition's true fate has called you up to ask for your help, but before he can tell you everything, the call is cut off.
That being the case, what you the player and your friends do is trace the path of the Carlyle expedition and find out what really happened. This game really adds a wallop to the Call of Cthulhu system. It adds 29 new magic spells, 11 new monsters, 57 supporting characters, 21 different classes of people as well as a new skill. This latter is Martial Arts. It seems strange that the Call of Cthulhu system did not have any sort of martial arts skill prior to 1986, but there you are. There are also hundreds of clues for the travelers to use in this game.
There is quite a bit of materials included in this game. It is all done with a nice 1920's period look. The same goes for the game's packaging and is very tastefully and elegantly done.
As far as RPGs go, Masks of Nyarlathotep is just about perfect. If my friends in the LRSFS were right about this being the very last RPG ever created that was worth the bother playing, then this is the very best way for a line of game development to end at.
