Critical Hit: A Major Spoilers Real Play RPG Podcast

Homecoming - Epilogue (PANS01E44)

·1 hr 3 min·5 clips

A group of adventurers in 1940 must call for help after accidentally unleashing an invisible Shoggoth monster in rural Massachusetts.

The episode begins with an ad break before transitioning into the actual play session set in January 1940. The player characters—Dutch, Bliscoe, Matthew, and Valentino—are in Dunwich after recent events involving a Mothman and Nazis. They need to call for help regarding a Shoggoth they believe has been unleashed. Using a party-line payphone, they overhear a local woman frantically reporting something destroyed her barn, hinting at the Shoggoth's activity. They first call Sergeant Doolittle in the U.S. military, who is angry about their association with Nazis but offers little practical aid. Next, they call the British Brigadier, who is pleased they recovered a book but provides no resources, noting past dismissals of Shoggoth sightings. The group decides to drive back to Arkham, but exhaustion causes them to crash into a snowy ditch, injuring everyone and delaying them. Upon reaching Arkham, they visit Miskatonic University and meet Sally Armitage, returning books they recovered. Sally reveals her father, Professor Armitage, is hospitalized, and she takes charge, assembling a team of university women—Bernice (mechanical engineering), Chloe (chemical engineering/mystic arts), and Maddie (archaeology)—to confront the Shoggoth with a visibility spray and other gear. The women depart in a 1938 ambulance, leaving the adventurers to their next mission. The group debates traveling to Barlow, Kentucky by car or train, ultimately choosing to drive after resting and repairing their vehicle. They also discuss what to do with their undead cat, deciding to release it in the country. While planning the route, Valentino studies a map and realizes Barlow, Kentucky lies at a river confluence similar to Cairo, Egypt, and if the map were reversed, it mirrors their past mission location, hinting at a larger cosmic pattern. The episode ends with credits and a Patreon promotion.

As heard by us

A quiet road-home epilogue built around coffee, Velma, and a very odd wartime story.

The episode settles into a quiet road-home rhythm as the group makes it back to Arkham on New Year's Day, with the cat still meowing through the drive and the last traces of trouble lingering in the air.

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Why you'd press play

When the road quiets down, you get coffee and a very odd history lesson in Arkham.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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