Call of Cthulhu is a roleplaying game with a problem—and always has been. The first and most famous of horror roleplaying games inverts the traditional path for the Player Character, as first seen in Dungeons & Dragons, and then ever since, who as he learns and masters skills and has experiences, goes from a nobody to a hero in the course of his adventures. In Call of Cthulhu, a Player Character—or Investigator—enters play as someone with skills and experiences, but as he learns more and master skills, he declines, most obviously in terms of his mental health or Sanity. Of course, that ignores his fragility relative to the world and the multiple ways in which he can be killed or sent mad, both very common destinies in Lovecraftian investigative roleplaying. Whether dead or mad—not impossibly both, what that means is that the player has to create a new Investigator. Which in any edition of Call of Cthulhu is a straightforward enough process, but the resulting Investigator is not going to be as interesting as the one that died, perhaps little more than a run-of-the-mill example of whatever Occupation the player has decided up for the Investigator. A louche Dilettante? A hardboiled Detective who has seen it all? An all-too nosy Journalist? And if the Investigator’s fortunes go awry, how quickly will the player be returning to the Call of Cthulhu Investigator Handbook?

Now Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition goes some way in allaying this issue. In presents numerous Occupations, but also encourages a player to create a Backstory, including Personal Description, Ideology/Beliefs, Significant People, Meaningful Locations, Treasured Possessions, and Traits. Optional rules also provide alternative means of creating Investigators, as well as Experience Packages that can further round out an Investigator, though at a cost of some Sanity. What though, if there was a volume which would go even further, to help a player create even more interesting Investigators, with detailed backgrounds and histories, which would be even more engaging and interesting to roleplay and interact with? Heinrich’s Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation is such a tome.

Heinrich’s Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation is inspired by the series of books published in the early nineties by Task Force Games that include Central Casting: Heroes of Legend, Central Casting: Heroes Now, and Central Casting: Heroes for Tomorrow. They provided tools for interesting Player Character generation—in addition to the mechanics and numbers provided by the roleplaying game that the Player Character was being created for—for their respective genres, and so does Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation. The book also works with Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos as some of the entries do veer into the fantastic. The volume takes the Investigator through the four steps of his life prior to becoming involved with the Mythos and entering play, from Origins through Childhood and Adolescence to Adulthood, the player rolling on the tables as necessary, and sometimes also being asked to make skill or attribute rolls as well. What is made clear is that neither the player nor the Keeper has to adhere to the outcome of any roll. Indeed, both are encouraged to cheat if it will make a more interesting Investigator or NPC, and anyway, even if not using dice the entries on the innumerable tables in the Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation are ultimately nothing more than prompts to the imagination.

To it necessary to really see what we are contrasting in Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation and so the following is an Investigator who has appeared in numerous forms. He is a Boston antiquarian, a would be academic whose experiences in the Great War left him partially deaf and unsuited to the rigours of university life.

Henry Brinded,
age 44, Antiquarian

STR 40 SIZ 85 CON 45 DEX 70
APP 75 INT 80 POW 65 EDU 91
SAN 58 Luck 75 Damage Bonus +1d4 Build 1
Move 7 HP 12

Brawl 35% (17/7), damage 1D3+db, or by weapon type
Rifle/Shotgun 35% (17/8), damage 2D6/1D6/1D3 (Ithaca Hammerless Field 20G 2.75” calibre shotgun)
Handgun 30% (15/7), damage 1d10+2 (Colt New Service (M1909) .45 LC calibre revolver)
Dodge 35% (17/7)

Skills: Appraise 45%, Archaeology 26%, Art/Craft (Book Restoration) 49%, Art/Craft (Painting) 26%, Artillery 40%, Climb 30%, Credit Rating 45%, Firearms (Handguns) 30%, Firearms (Rifle/Shotgun) 35%, First Aid 50%, History 55%, Library Use 50%, Navigate 20%, Occult 20%, Persuade 40%, Pilot (Boat) 26%, Psychology 31%, Spot Hidden 45%, Stealth 25%, Swim 40%, Track 20%.
Languages: Ancient Greek 41%, English (Own) 91%, Latin 51%.

Backstory
Personal Description: Tall and thin, just shy of infirm, bespectacled and inquisitive.
Treasured Possessions: Latin-English Primer
Traits: Introspective but curious, softly spoken, but firm in manner
Phobias: Ligyrophobia – Fear of loud noises.
Notes: Immune to sanity losses resulting from viewing a corpse or gross injury.

Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation will build in elements that will potentially include Personal Description, Traits, Ideology/Beliefs, Injuries & Scars, Significant People, Phobias & Manias, Meaningful Locations, Arcane Tomes, Spells, & Artifacts, Treasured Possessions, and Encounters with Strange Entities, but begins with a point spread of characteristics. Similarly, it assumes a similar point spread for both Occupational skills and Non-Occupational skills, and builds from there. What the volume does not do is include tables to determine the Investigator’s race, sex, gender identity, or sexual orientation, these being all very personal choices and it should not be a case of a random roll determining something that a player might uncomfortable portraying in game. Similarly, the tables do not reflect the social, cultural, and legal prejudices prevalent during the Jazz Age or the Desperate Decade, the primary settings for Lovecraftian investigative roleplaying. Again, such choices are very much left up to the Keeper and her players to decide upon.

The creation process is methodical, step-by-step, sometimes sending off the player or Keeper off to a separate table way in the back in the book—so it does involve a lot of flipping back and forth—to roll on another table to get another detail. Some entries instruct the player or Keeper to add a detail here or assign there. For example, ‘Bookworm’ is an entry in the ‘Childhood Events’ table and informs the player or keeper that the Investigator or NPC was studious and curious as a child, always asking questions or reading a book. The Keeper or player is then instructed to assign the highest remaining characteristic score to the Education of the NPC or Investigator and suggests ‘Book Dealer’ and ‘Librarian’ be listed under Potential Occupations.

Albert Johansen,
age 44, Book Dealer

Place of Birth: Germany
Social Status: Extremely Wealthy
Occupation: Book Dealer
Potential Occupations: Librarian, Book Dealer, Professor

STR 40 SIZ 50 CON 50 DEX 50
APP 50 INT 70 POW 60 EDU 80
SAN 60 Luck 84 Damage Bonus None Build 0
Move 8 HP 12

Brawl 25% (12/6), damage 1D3+db, or by weapon type
Rifle/Shotgun 45% (22/11)
Dodge 35% (17/7)

Skills: Accounting 45%, Appraise 55%, Art/Craft (Painting) 21%, Credit Rating 70%, Cthulhu Mythos 05%, Drive Auto 60%, History 75%, Library Use 70%, Navigate 30%, Occult 45%, Own Language (German) 80%, Other Language (English) 61%, Other Language (Latin) 61%, Persuade 50%, Pilot (Boat) 21%, Psychology 30%, Swim 40%

Albert Johansen was born in Germany to an Extremely Wealthy family and was expected to be a great scholar (Destiny). He was brought up by his mother, his father having been killed in an automobile accident which left her blind in her right eye. He has a younger sister. During his childhood, he was frightened of taking a bath, believing there to be a monster in the water pipes, but as he grew older, the members of the hunting lodge his father had belonged to took an interest in his upbringing and encouraged to learn to shoot and enjoy other field sports. As a boy, he was studious and religious coming to believe that he was Blessed (gains the relevant handout which grants bonuses in play, plus extra Luck) after adopting the faith of his father (Turn of Faith). He was surprised to receive an invitation at Miskatonic University (Invitation to Study), having expected to study at home, but there discovered the Professors’ Conspiracy investigating some dread powers. Your involvement led to an encounter with a living flame, which injured your throat (gaining the handout, ‘The Injured’), scarring your neck (Body Scars) and leaving you with a raspy voice. You returned home and much to your family’s surprise entered the book trade. You were apprenticed to Herr Emil Winter, who provided to be more than a book dealer. Indeed, he was a Magician who was able to teach him one spell at least.

This is only the start and it is possible to explore numerous aspects of the Investigator or NPC. Events can occur as part of his Occupation, he can engage in romances and build a family life, suffer fortune and misfortune, join the military, get caught up in crime and even end up incarcerated or institutionalised due to mental illness, go on an expedition, including to the Amazonia and Antarctica, come to the attention of a secret government agency, and even venture into the Dreamlands and other dimensions. There is the chance of experiencing some kind of event that will become part of a campaign—as decided or chosen by the Keeper, that the Investigator or NPC be kidnapped or have to put up with a nosy neighbour, be possessed, and a whole more, all supported by table upon table! Handouts cover strange events which will have long lasting in-game effects, such as suffering ‘The Innsmouth Look’ or becoming ‘A Friend of Ghouls’. These do push the campaign towards a more Pulp style, but add flavour and detail. Even at the most basic functions, the tables in Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation are just lists of prompts—certainly too many to count. If perhaps the one table that is underwhelming, it is the one of names, but to be fair, covering that in this book would probably double the page count!

Physically, Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation is busily laid out with table upon table. It is decently written and liberally illustrated with both period photographs and painted pieces.

Heinrich's Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation is fantastic toolkit. Of course, it is too much perhaps to create an Investigator or NPC with any rapidity. There are just too many tables to roll on and options to choose from, but between games, this is a superb resource to consult and gently create interesting and detailed characters. It very much has the feel of a solo adventure book, but one which creates a character by the end rather than at the beginning, equipped with a treasure trove of experiences and details that the player or Keeper can draw upon.
With Heinrich’s Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation, the player is at last going to have a resource and supplement all of his very own from the Miskatonic Repository. With it he can create interesting and varied Investigators ready to bring to his Keeper’s next game using the wealth of detail and background and ideas to be found in its pages. Sometimes though, just sometimes, he is going to have to let his Keeper have a peak too. Heinrich’s Call of Cthulhu Guide to Character Creation is the player’s tome that the roleplaying game never knew it quite needed, but now it really, really does.

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—
Name: Trick or Treat 2Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Andy Miller

Setting: Modern DayProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Sixty-Two page, 32.43 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Sequel to ‘Trick or Treat’ from Blood BrothersPlot Hook: Bored? Too old to trick or treat? Why not visit the site of an unsolved series of murders?
Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Teen Investigators, twelve NPCs, three handouts, four maps, three non-Mythos spells, and four non-Mythos monsters.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Sequel to ‘Trick or Treat’ from Blood Brothers# Pleasing history of Halloween and Halloween and Call of Cthulhu# Decent staging advice# Plenty of background# Does not simply start at the murder site# Contrasts the horror with school life# Detailed playtest notes included# Detailed plotting# Botanophobia# Formidophobia
Cons# Another ‘Kids in peril on Halloween’ scenario# Too much background for a one-shot?# Handouts a little plain# Needs an edit# Detailed plotting# Slightly too for a one-session one-shot
Conclusion# Classic ‘Kids in peril on Halloween’ scenario in which exploring an old murder site turns horrifically bloody as traditional Halloween motifs come to life and stalk the teenage protagonists. # Highly detailed and plotted—perhaps overly so?—teenage horror scenario which delivers a suitably nasty sequel to a Call of Cthulhu, non-Mythos classic. 

Occam’s Razor: Seven Modern Era Adventures of Mystery and Deathbegins with a problem. The anthology is a collection of scenarios for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition from Stygian Fox Publishing, previously known for two other collections, Fear’s Sharp Little Needles:Twenty-Six Hunting Forays into Horror and the highly regarded Things We leave Behind. What its back cover blurb states is that the book is, “Seven modern era adventures of mystery and death taking investigators through a nightmare of unexpected outcomes, horrific dilemmas, and extreme cosmic horror.” However, the problem is that this statement is both inaccurate and misleading, and it completely fails to tell the prospective purchaser and Keeper what Occam’s Razor is. This problem is compounded by the complete absence of an introduction, which might have explained what Occam’s Razor is and what Occam’s Razor is not, and this key idea behind the anthology. It is not until the reader is fifteen pages into Occam’s Razor and at the end of the first scenario that it becomes clear what the anthology is and what the key idea behind it is. Which really is too late to discover, especially when the blurb promises the prospective purchaser and Keeper “extreme cosmic horror” and does not ‘exactly’ fulfil that promise.

Occam’s Razor: Seven Modern Era Adventures of Mystery and Death, published following a successful Kickstarter campaign, is an anthology of scenarios which involve the mundane rather than Mythos horror. In this they adhere to the principle of ‘Occam’s Razor’ that when faced with competing theories or explanations to a problem, the one with the fewest complications and thus the simplest is to be preferred. In fact, there is no fantastical horror involved in the scenarios in the anthology. So, no vampire or werewolf, let alone the Cthulhu Mythos. Instead, a pack of rabid dogs rather than werewolves (or Ghouls), murder rather than lake monsters (or Deep Ones), and mental illness rather than stalking (or cultists). However, in each case, the author provides options and suggestions in a ‘Must Have Mythos’ sidebar as to what Mythos threat might be added to make each scenario more of a traditional scenario for Call of Cthulhu. That though, would be undercut the point of the anthology, which would be to misdirect the players and their Investigators. To have them chasing hither and thither in search of a Mythos threat or solution to a situation, only for them to miss the obvious, but ultimately realise that the mundane solution can be just as horrifying.

Besides sharing mundane solutions with Mythos options, what the majority of the scenarios in Occam’s Razor share is a hook. Five out of the seven involve missing persons cases, which quickly becomes repetitive and means that whether running them using the mundane solution or the Mythos solution, the Keeper cannot use them one after another. Similarly, four out of the seven involve college students, and that too has a similar effect. All seven though are quite short, offering no more than a session or two’s worth of play, and all are really nicely detailed, the author having done a decent job of explaining each scenario’s plot and clues and ramifications and how each investigation should play out. Even the simplest is well thought through and this shows on the page. The author also adds advice and suggestions on how to run or stage each scenario in sidebars that are in an addition to the usually fulsome ‘Must Have Mythos’ sidebar. The scenarios in the anthology are all set in the modern day, so mobile phones and the Internet all feature fairly heavily, and it will probably be a good idea if at least one Investigator possesses a decent Computer skill—there are a lot of passwords to crack in the seven scenarios.

The anthology opens with ‘A Whole Pack of Trouble’. The parents of Kyle Alexander, a college freshman, believe that he has gone missing, but cannot persuade the campus or local police department that this is the case. Both believe that he is simply away on a break, but following the clues from his dorm room leads the Investigators out into the back wilds where they find Alexander’s car outside a long-abandoned asylum. So, the questions are, what was Kyle doing out there and where is he now? The solution here is a feral dog pack, which presents a genuinely nasty threat once the animals gain the Investigators’ scent.

The second scenario is ‘Eye of the Beholder’ and involves the second missing persons case in the anthology, again from a college. Amy Langan is an art student and once her movement is traced, she was last seen at a local art museum. The question is, where did she go after that? This is a constrained scenario, confined to the four walls of the museum, which has the scope to inject an unhealthy dose of the Mythos via a seemingly random art exhibition. This seems rather overdone in comparison to the mundane solution behind the disappearance. Whether the Keeper adds the Mythos or keeps the scenario mundane, it is possible to circumvent either and very quickly bring the scenario to a conclusion.

‘Frozen Footsteps’ takes the Investigators to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on the trail of a friend who failed to turn up for a regular lunch meeting. The friend is known to be an amateur scholar of the occult, so something must have caught his interest… Unfortunately, this is not an interesting scenario in itself, with or without the addition of the Mythos content. What sets this scenario apart is the wintery nature of the setting and time of year, and that the antagonists are actually more proactive than others in the scenarios in the anthology. Of course, the friend needs to be added to the campaign prior to the scenario to really work.

Fortunately, ‘Dark and Deep’ is much more interesting in almost every way. In a nod to the author’s own filmic interests, the Investigators receive—or are alerted to the existence of—what appears to be an exert from a snuff film, in which a young woman appears to be attacked by a monster in the waters near a lighthouse. Perhaps the monster could be a Deep One? There is an engaging plot to this scenario and plenty of potential for good roleplaying, and that is even before the Keeper thinks of adding the suggested Mythos content. Should she do so, this adds another level of engaging plot and the motivations of the Mythos threat actually fit the situation ever so neatly. Of all the scenarios in Occam’s Razor, ‘Dark and Deep’ is the one easiest to use in a standard Call of Cthulhu campaign without the Mythos feeling shoehorned in.

The scenarios return to college for ‘Visions from Beyond’ after one of the investigators receives a late-night telephone call from a young man who looks up to the Investigator and takes an interest in the Investigator’s occult-busting activities. The young man is distraught and upset, babbling about recent activities he has been involved in, but then the telephone goes. What has the young man been up to and where is he now? The Investigators must deal with the young man’s fraternity and the campus police before grasping some idea of what is going on… When the antagonists find out, they have a nasty way of turning on the Investigators and then everything gets really freaky! This scenario is nasty enough to not warrant the inclusion of the Mythos, and if it is, there would really be very little difference between the Mythos threat and the mundane one. The scenario needs some set-up beforehand, adding the young man as an NPC to the Keeper’s campaign. This is likely to work better here than in the earlier ‘Frozen Footsteps’, as the interaction with the young man brings an emotional immediacy to the scenario.

The most radical of the scenarios in Occam’s Razor is ‘The Watchers’. A young woman, Linda Lopez, hires the Investigators because she believes is being followed and her apartment is being watched, including by a tall shadowy figure. Of all the scenarios in the anthology, the solution to the situation in ‘The Watchers’ is the both the most mundane and certainly the saddest. This is because her fears are unfounded because she is mentally ill and suffering from schizophrenia. The scenario is designed to teach reckless Investigators and their players a lesson or two in not rushing into the situation and jumping to conclusions. Adding the Mythos to ‘The Watchers’ would ultimately undermine this intent, let alone the fact that the Mythos would not add anything of interest either. The treatment of the mental illness and the symptoms of schizophrenia are reasonably well handled, but there is no denying that ‘The Watchers’ has a brand of horror all of its very own, which makes for an uncomfortable scenario with potentially a difficult subject matter for some players and controversial for others.

The last scenario in ‘A Cleansing Flame’ goes back to college where an astronomer friend of the investigators is found burned to death. Does it have something to do with his research or is there something else going on here? As the Investigators tries to find out the truth, one of their number comes to the attention of someone who always seems to remain elusive and just out of the corner of their eye. Is this person related to the victim’s work or not, and just what is their interest in the Investigator? This is not an easy investigation and many of the NPCs will be unhelpful or simply difficult to deal with. In comparison to the other six scenarios in the anthology, ‘A Cleansing Flame’ is a looser affair and not as tightly structured or plotted, so it likely to require more time to play and more input from the Keeper. The scenario’s climax—as the author makes clear—also has the potential to kill all of the Investigators. Also, like some of the other scenarios in the anthology, adding the Mythos to ‘A Cleansing Flame’ does not add anything to its horror.

Rounding out Occam’s Razor is a series of newspaper articles which the Keeper can develop scenarios from herself or link to other adventures, especially those also published by Stygian Fox Publishing. The anthology also comes with a set of pre-generated Investigators, the owner and staff of the Sandings Investigative Agency. These are for the most part, decent enough.

Physically, Occam’s Razor is a handsome looking, but slim tome. The book is nicely illustrated throughout and the cartography is artfully done, arguably the best to appear in a Stygian Fox Publishing in some while. Not all of the illustrations match the maps—or vice versa—though, and the editing is uneven in places.

There have been anthologies for Call of Cthulhu before which present scenarios without the Mythos. Bumps in the Night from Pagan Publishing is one, as are Blood Brothers and Blood Brothers II, both from Chaosium, Inc. Occam’s Razor joins them, but wants to have its cake and eat it by including options to involve the Mythos, and in too many cases, the presence of the Mythos does not add much, if anything at all, to a scenario. This is primarily because the presence of the Mythos is simply changing the motivations behind the antagonists’ actions, the exception being the best scenario in the book proving the point. ‘Dark and Deep’ stands very well up on its own, but the addition of the Mythos adds plot rather than motivation.

The collection though is not as easy to use because of its repeated hook of missing persons cases and the mundane nature of the antagonists. Rather than use than use them one after another, the scenarios need to spread across a campaign if their central conceit—that not all horrifying situations have a Mythos solution and the Investigators need to be reminded of that on occasion, is to work. Nevertheless, Occam’s Razor: Seven Modern Era Adventures of Mystery and Death presents a set of serviceable scenarios, with at least the one standout, but all seven are solidly plotted and well written.

England is falling. She stuttered after the slaughter of the Great War and the ravages of the Spanish Flu. As the Bright Young Things flung themselves into the hedonism of the Jazz Age and the working classes fomented industrial action—if not outright revolution, the fall was accelerated after the Wall Street Crash spread the Great Depression around the world. Now as Fascism rises in nearby Europe and is admired and entertained by the Upper Classes, the country is losing its way, weak and unsure of what it once was, let alone what it is now. Yet there are those who recognise the malaise, and who not only know the solution, but have the means and the power to apply it and so restore the country. Since the strange occurrences in the South Pacific in 1925, there have been men and women who have come to see there are beings and powers beyond that can be used and bargained with to ensure that England can be at least itself once again, that it can inspire great men and simple men alike, be prepared to weather the coming storm, and perhaps aspire to be the Albion of William Blake’s verse. Their means is not politics or the modern arts of mass communication, but old arts and skills—magic! Or rather Alchemy, Spiritualism, and Witchcraft, as well as the Magick of the evillest man in England, Aleister Crowley. Armed with knowledge gained from their newfound skills and researches, they will delve into the myth and folklore of the country, allay the threats they sometimes are, have dealings with creatures and persons out of fable, and encounter those non-believers, rival magicians, and fascists who do not want a return to a green and pleasant land in a secret war which will play out over the course of the Desperate Decade.

This is the setting for Fearful Symmetries, a campaign for Trail of Cthulhu, published by Pelgrane Press. This explores the clash between rationalism and romance, science and magic, Lovecraft and Blake, the Mythos and the folklore in a framework inspired by Blake’s artwork and writings, that might not involve Lovecraftian investigative horror at all! For although the often non-Euclidean mathematics of the Mythos underly the workings of the mundane magics of Alchemy, Spiritualism, Magick, and Witchcraft, as well as the existence of the Mythos creatures and races that explain many of the creatures known in folklore, this does not mean that they will be recognised as being of the Mythos. Thus, the Investigators may encounter the Mythos but not necessarily recognise as such, likely losing Stability and Sanity nevertheless, just as they will for practising magic and encountering folkloric creature. Ultimately, magic, even as it empowers the Investigators to deal with the threats to Albion and ensure its restoration, is a double-edged sword, yet one more ‘fearful symmetry’ they will face in the course of a campaign.

Fearful Symmetries begins with an introduction to William Blake and both his works and mythology, contrasting them with those of Lovecraft. This section in particular is lavishly illustrated with Blake’s paintings, but they are used throughout the book and so give it a very individual look. Here the groundwork is laid for a campaign, including whether it should be played open or closed in terms of Investigator knowledge, the style of magic the Investigators should employ—Magick is the default, the conventions of magic, what type of characters to play, and advice for the player. The counterpart to this—or symmetry—is the advice and tools for the Keeper. The Folklore Engine and the History Machine are the primary sets of tools, more a series of prompt than necessarily tools, but they enable the Keeper to build mysteries and episodes around folklore and the real world. They have their own counterpart for the players in the form of The Book of the New Jerusalem, an in-game prompt that they can draw from to direct their Investigators’ enquiries. Other tools include geographical and relationship maps, timelines, and more, the latter running all the way up to safety tools necessary for a good game. There is decent advice on setting up and running a campaign, the primary advice being that the Keeper improvise in response to her players’ and their Investigators’ actions and decisions, many of which are intended to be drawn from The Book of the New Jerusalem.

One major difference between Trail of Cthulhu and Fearful Symmetries is the power level of the Investigators. In Trail of Cthulhu—even in Pulp mode, the power level of the Investigators is low. At best, an Investigator might know a spell or two in Trail of Cthulhu, whereas in Fearful Symmetries they are magical adepts, capable of casting a variety of spells, empowering rituals, creating magical items, entreating with magical beings, and incarnating Blakean spirits. Fearful Symmetries gives ways of making the casting of Incantations—immediate spells, and the performing of rituals—longer, more involved castings, both interesting and mechanically beneficial. Magic here has to be worked, especially the rituals, which the Investigators will be regularly performing, whether this is initiation rituals to bring someone into a magical group or attunement rituals to align the casters to a magical item or node. The attunement ritual will be important throughout a Fearful Symmetries campaign as the Investigators will be working to restore and repair important locations upon England’s ley lines and this bring about a new Albion.

Although the default style of magic in Fearful Symmetries is Aleister Crowley’s Magick, three others—Alchemy, Spiritualism, and Witchcraft—are also examined in detail. Others are mentioned as an aside, but the focus on the key four means that there is a lot here for the Keeper to grasp and understand, let alone her players. Having Magick as the default offsets that, although main reason is that having the Investigators share the same magical style means that they can easier work together. The wealth of information here means that the casting of magic should never get stale.

In terms of background, Fearful Symmetries gives a good guide to life and cultures of mundane England of the thirties, details several of the occult groups operating in England in the period (these can be rivals, groups the Investigators can join, and so on), points to ordinary groups such as ramblers and potholers as useful contacts and NPCs, numerous creatures and beings from British folklore are described and given stats, as are various items and occult books. Occult England—or Albion—takes in not just the notable magical places across the country, thus tying in with The Book of the New Jerusalem, but also extends beyond into other places. These include Fairyland, the astral plane, even Death, as well as John Dee’s Aethyrs, the planes surrounding the Earth. Combined with the ley maps in the appendices at the rear of the book and The Book of the New Jerusalem and what Fearful Symmetries provides an occult sandbox which the Keeper can develop a campaign from and the players and their Investigators can explore in pursuit of a restored Albion.

The default or sample campaign in Fearful Symmetries comes oddly placed in the middle of the book. In ‘Fearful Symmetries’ the Investigators begin as newly initiated practitioners whose mentor is suddenly snatched away in front in of them by what is arguably Blake’s most well-known motif. Once the ritual is completed and now both initiated and incarnated as one of Blake’s Zoas, or primal spirits, they can begin following the clues in search of their mentor and discover who or what abducted her in front of their eyes. The plot thickens with a Lovecraftian antagonist, trips out into the English countryside and across seedy London (potential here for a crossover with Bookhounds of London and The Book of the Smoke, the London counterpart—or symmetry?—to The Book of the New Jerusalem), and in the second part or series, confrontations with England’s growing obsession with fascism. Just fifteen pages long, this is an excellent outline, which together with the background, should develop into a good campaign.

Rounding out Fearful Symmetries is a bibliography and a set of appendices that examine the ley lines network across London, worksheets, lists of alternate names for folkloric creatures, a glossary, a lengthy list of other occult books, and maps of the lay lines detailed earlier in the book. In particular, the examination of the ley lines network across London ties into the sample campaign and potentially turns Fearful Symmetries into a sequel to the earlier Bookhounds of London.

Physically, Fearful Symmetries is cleanly and tidily presented, its tight blocks of text broken up by Blake’s artwork as well as the liberal inclusion of quotes from Blake himself, plus William Shakespeare, H.P. Lovecraft, Aleister Crowley, Arthur Machen, and many more. This makes the book a lot easier to read given the wealth of information it provides. If there is a downside to the book, it is the lack of index, inexcusable given just how much information there is in Fearful Symmetries.

Fearful Symmetries is not a traditional campaign or setting book for Lovecraftian investigative roleplaying, let alone for Trail of Cthulhu. Of course, Pelgrane Press has form here with Dreamhounds of Paris, which combined Surrealism with the Dreamlands, but Fearful Symmetries is not really about the Mythos, although it is present, hidden under layers of Blake’s mysticism and the occult traditions practiced in the thirties. So the Investigators may never even encounter it. Nor is it a case of encountering a great ‘evil’ and thwarting its plans necessarily, as is the usual in a campaign of Lovecraftian investigative roleplaying, but rather of restoring and rebuilding an ideal. This is Blake’s Albion, the old Albion, as opposed to the ‘new’ Albion that the English fascists might be dreaming of, again, one more of the symmetries to be found in the supplement. One way in which Fearful Symmetries can be seen, especially in its emphasis upon Aleister Crowley’s Magick, is as a spiritual successor to Pagan Publishing’s The Golden Dawn.

Fearful Symmetries takes Trail of Cthulhu and the GUMSHOE System into the realm of occult investigative roleplaying, and whilst it does not leave Lovecraftian investigative roleplaying behind, it does prove that it is as dangerous as the Mythos. There is a bucolic richness to this realm, both in the mundane and the magical, that begs to be explored and appreciated, but there is complexity too, more so than will be found in a typical Trail of Cthulhu or Lovecraftian investigative roleplaying campaign. There is also, a sense of hope to Fearful Symmetries, a yearning for England to be a better place, and as dangerous and as difficult as the attempt will be, that the Investigators are rebuilding and restoring the country, directing her down a different path, rather than saving the country against an unknowable and uncaring foe. In hindsight, this can also be seen as restoring England as she once was spiritually and thus preparing her in time for the calamities that will come in the face of war.

As English as it can be, Fearful Symmetries is a superb set of tools for a very different type of campaign. Rife with fascinating parallels and contrasts, Fearful Symmetries presents a setting and campaign of occult investigative roleplaying that will be demanding of Keeper and player alike, but enable them to explore a rich world of the occult and the folkloric, becoming the country’s secret saviours as they master dangerous Magicks, face fascist bullyboys, and bring about a better future.

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: After the Rain: A Samurai Era Call of Cthulhu ScenarioPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Kevin Konieczko

Setting: Warring States Era JapanProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-six page, 12.54 MB PDFElevator Pitch: Seven Samurai versus the MythosPlot Hook: Ronin hired to deal with bandits who have just turned more vicious
Plot Support: Staging advice, eight handouts including one map, six NPCs, and two Mythos monsters.Production Values: Good.
Pros# Suitable for Cthulhu Dark Ages# Includes a primer on Sengoku Era Japan# Detailed Investigators# Teraphobia
Cons# Involves a lot of combat# Needs an edit
Conclusion# Entertaining change of place in what is a samurai mini-sandbox supported detailed Investigators and historical background.# Can be run using Cthulhu Dark Ages or Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: Taken for GranitePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Jade Griffin

Setting: Jazz Age VermontProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-eight page, 11.84 MB PDFElevator Pitch: Invasion of the Ringing, Singing RocksPlot Hook: Graniteville turns strange in the Fall
Plot Support: Staging advice, six handouts including one map, six NPCs, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Good.
Pros# First part of a series# Solid plot# Good artwork# Decent small town investigation# Petraphobia# Phonophobia
Cons# Forced failure of a skill roll?# Needs a careful read through to understand the plot# Underdeveloped in places# Slightly underwritten plot
Conclusion# Strange behavior in a small town reveals a weird menace from outer somewhere in a decent little scenario.# Scenario hindered by unclear explanations in places and a slightly underwritten plot

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: Ravishing BeautyPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Dr. Benjamin Will

Setting: Italy, 64 C.E.Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty page, 1.41 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Sometimes the walls are given a willPlot Hook: A stay at a wealthy villa reveals the nastiness of the owners
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators with backgrounds, three maps, six  NPCs, and three Mythos monsters.Production Values: Plain.
Pros# One session scenario for Cthulhu Invictus# Unpleasant NPCs# Pleasing sense of claustrophobia# Decent pre-generated Investigators# Inventive use of the representation of myth# Easy to move to elsewhere and elsewhen in the Roman Empire# Potential campaign starter# Sportaldislexicartaphobia# Automatonophobia# Artophobia
Cons# Underwritten primary NPC interactions# Includes scene where rape and sexual assault is a possibility
Conclusion# Claustrophobic scenario which makes inventive use of the representation of myth# Solid scenario for Cthulhu Invictus that can be worked into a campaign or used as a campaign starter

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: Octopus TagPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Ronny Anderssen

Setting: Modern DayProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-Six page, 21.71 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Squid Game versus the MythosPlot Hook: Can you survive the horrors of the game?
Plot Support: Staging advice, eight NPCs, six handouts, one map, one Mythos artefact, and one Mythos monster.Production Values: Good.
Pros# Definitely survival horror!# Inspired by Squid Game# Nicely done NPCs# Some NPCs you want to die# Make the NPCs playable Investigators for interesting dynamics# Almost endless supply of replacement Investigators# Kabaddi, Kabaddi, Kabaddi# Chapodiphobia# Ludophobia
Cons# Inspired by Squid Game# Unwinnable# As a one-shot, needed pre-generated Investigators# Some NPCs you want to die# Every game needs careful study and staging# Keeper needs to prepare ready supply of NPCs and names# Keeper needs to prepare ready supply of new Investigators
Conclusion# Bonkers, ultimately unwinnable game (or series of games) of survival horror that will grind the Investigators down and scour their Sanity.# Reality Television or Black Books-style horror infused with the Mythos for a nasty one-shot that will bring out the worst (and the best) in the NPCs and Investigators.

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: The Time Shadow Over DarnesvillePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Scott Cox

Setting: Jazz Age USAProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Ten page, 2.35 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Invasion of the Mind SnatchersPlot Hook: “Look, you fools, you’re in danger! Can’t you see?! They’re after you! They’re after all of us! Our wives, our children, everyone! THEY’RE HERE, ALREADY! YOU’RE NEXT!”
Plot Support: Four NPCs, one Mythos tome, and no Mythos monsters.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Short two-three hour scenario# Suitable for one Investigator and one Keeper# Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Shadow Out of Time’# Easy to adapt to other time periods and settings# Xenophobia
Cons# Needs a slight edit# Superfluous Spot Hidden rolls# Primary antagonist could be in two places at once# Underdeveloped in places# Inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s ‘The Shadow Out of Time’# Darnesville undeveloped as a setting# No maps# No Psychology rolls?# Underwritten NPCs# Insufficient alienness
Conclusion# Potentially decent one Investigator/one Keeper scenario undone by by underdevelopment in terms of location and the portrayal of the NPCs.# For a scenario dealing with alien invasion, The Time Shadow Over Darnesville simply lacks a sense of paranoia or the alien.

Station ‘S’: An Anomaly in Scotland Heralds Doom for All Mankind is a scenario for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Published by Stygian Fox, it is set in Scotland during World War Two, and can therefore be run as part of a World War Cthulhu campaign—soon to be updated to Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition by Chaosium, Inc.—or with some effort adapted to play using the latest version of Achtung! Cthulhu from Modiphius Entertainment or with Delta Green: A Roleplaying Game of Lovecraftian Horror and Conspiracy. The scenario is short and can be run as a one-shot or a convention scenario and comes with its own set of four pre-generated Investigators. It is clear in its inspiration, Stanislaw Lem’s novel, Solaris, and consequently, the resulting scenario shares with it an unnerving uncertainty and a sense of secrecy which means that the horror is more personal and thus more subtle. Consequently, Station ‘S’ is a vastly superior to the previous scenario from the publisher set during World War Two, the execrable The Foulness Island Vanishings: A Corrupting Infiltration in a Time of War. With clues and elements tied into the scenario’s four pre-generated Investigators, the scenario will be more challenging to use in an ongoing campaign, but it can be done.

Station ‘S’: An Anomaly in Scotland Heralds Doom for All Mankind opens with a briefing. Contact has been lost with a secret research station on the banks of a saltwater loch in Scotland. There a team had been set up to study a strange anomaly in the loch—the appearance of a German U-boat, missing its crew, but almost nothing has been heard from the team in the last week and even then, the messages have been odd. The Investigator team consists of an Army officer, an Army non-commissioned officer, a historian, and a scientist (curiously no-one from the Royal Navy is sent considering a submarine is involved) and they are to make contact with the staff at Station ‘S’, determine their status, and then bring both them and any technology from the U-boat back. Although the Investigators have a few files to read, information is scant and considered top secret, so the real investigation begins as the team vehicle crests the top of the rise overlooking the isolated research station and the loch.

The Investigators find the base in disarray, with just a handful of staff still present, but desperate and deranged. As the Investigators explore the ramshackle base, they begin to find anomalies and things that that should not be there, things that only they know. These secrets are intentionally seeded throughout the research station and the U-boat, with notes for the Keeper to add more and enhance the sense of mistrust and uncertainty that pervades what is a mini-sandbox. Exploring the meagre facilities is a challenge in itself, especially the U-boat, and by the time the Investigators have been everywhere, the strange anomalies and secrets are likely to have scoured away some of their Sanity.

The scenario is by design opaque, especially the threat at the heart of it. In some ways it is a locked room situation, the Investigators trapped in the valley unless they can find the solution to getting out. One primary means is provided, which is in keeping with the nature of the Mythos threat, itself equally as opaque, although the players and their Investigators are free to come up with their own and several are suggested to that end. This pushes the scenario away from the type of story where the monster is unstoppable and will kill all of the Investigators unless they determine and devise the monster’s one weakness. This is not to say that death is impossible, but it is not the main thrust of the scenario.

The scenario is also primarily player and Investigator led, the Keeper provided with a range of prompts and keys scenes in what is a relatively short affair. In fact, in comparison to the earlier overblown and decidedly underwhelming The Foulness Island Vanishings, the design and writing of Station ‘S’ is distinctly succinct. The succinct design combined with the nature of the Mythos threat does mean that the scenario requires a careful read through by the Keeper and it does mean that it needs a degree of development in places. The Investigators will need some background sheets prepared and the Significant People, Meaningful Locations, and Treasured Possessions are not marked on all of the Investigator sheets. The deckplans of a U-boat will be useful, there being only the one, rather plain map included with the scenario. One missed opportunity in the scenario is the Nordic or Viking thread, which is not as developed as it could be. Having a Viking longship sail of the mist on the loch or a Viking warrior loom out of the mist ashore would add to the weirdness happening at Station ‘S’.

Physically, Station ‘S’ is neat and tidy. It needs a slight edit in places, but is in general, well presented and accessible. A huge improvement on previous releases.

Station ‘S’: An Anomaly in Scotland Heralds Doom for All Mankind is succinct and scary, an atmospheric one-shot perfect for a night’s unsettling horror. This is the best original scenario which Stygian Fox has put out in quite a while.

The Old School Renaissance continues to evolve although in small steps. Thus we have Cairn, a small Old School-style roleplaying game derived from two other designs, Into the Odd and Knave, both highly regarded. Designed to be played by a Warden—its term for Game Master and a handful of players, it casts the Player Characters as hardened adventurers who undertake to explore a dark and mysterious Wood populated with strange folk, hidden treasure, and unspeakable monstrosities. As a system, it does not use character Classes, eschews Experience Points in favour of in-world experience to gain new skills and abilities, has death firmly placed around the corner, and play has the Player Characters working together towards a common objective. Thus, from Into the Odd, Cairn employs three attributes, deadly combat with automatic hits which make armour a wise choice and forces a player to ask whether combat is always the right solution, armour deducting damage suffered, whilst from Knave, it uses the equipment slot mechanics for everything a Player Character carries, including the one-spell spellbooks and similar tables for determining traits for the character.

Where Cairn starts is in presenting up front its principles of play for both the Warden and her players. For the Warden these deal with how information, difficulty, danger, choice, preparation, narrative focus, treasure, and fate are handled during play, whilst for the player they cover agency, teamwork, exploration, communication, caution, planning, and ambition. For example, when it comes to danger, the Warden is told that the Player Characters face real risk of pain and death; that she should telegraph any danger clearly to the players and their characters; traps should be obvious allowing the players and their characters time to work out to disarm them; and she should provide opportunities to solve problems and interact with the world. For the players and their characters, they are advised to use teamwork, seeking consensus before rushing to act, agreeing to follow the same goals and limits, to respect each other, and consequently accomplish more as a group than single characters. Many of the points are obvious, but here they are placed up front for both player and Warden, and direct and to the point. It is a case of, “Here is what you are playing and here is how you play it to get the best out of it.” It is solid advice and both sections should be read by the Warden and her players.

A Player Character in Cairn has three abilities—Strength, Dexterity, and Willpower. These are rolled on three six-sided dice. He has between one and six points of Hit Protection. This is not Hit Points in the traditional sense of roleplaying games, but rather a measure of resilience, luck, and gumption, rather than health. He has an Inventory of ten slots, which includes backpack, both hands, and upper body. A player rolls for the three abilities, and then on tables for name and background, and various character traits, including physique, skin, hair, face, speech, clothing, virtue, vice, reputation, and misfortunes. He also rolls for armour, helmet and shields, expeditionary gear, tools, trinkets, and a bonus item. In addition, the Player Character has some rations, a torch, and some gold. Optional Gear Packages are listed if the Warden and her players want to play a more traditional style of fantasy roleplaying game. These include Cleric, Dwarf, Elf, Fighter, Magic-User, Ranger, and Thief, but also the odder Dowser, Friar, and Knight. Most of the traits are roleplaying and appearance cues, but the Player Character’s Background suggests an area of knowledge and skills, though this not reflected mechanically in the game itself. It is left up to the Game Master to decide whether that is the case or not, but mechanically, this would have made each Player Character stand out a little more. The process is straightforward and takes a few minutes.

Name: Esme Hunter
Background: Smuggler
Strength: 07 Dexterity: 10 Willpower: 08
Physique: Scrawny Skin: Soft
Hair: Filthy Face: Rat-like
Speech: Formal Clothing: Bloody
Virtue: Courageous Vice: Craven
Reputation: Respected Misfortunes: Cursed

Equipment
Armour: Brigadine
Helmet and Shield: None
Weapons: Dagger, Cudgel, Staff
Backpack: Three days’ rations, torch, Wolfsbane, Drill, Dice Set, Metal File

Mechanically in Cairn, a Player Character rolls a Save against an appropriate ability, aiming to roll equal to or under. A one is always a success and a twenty always a failure. It is as that, and combat does not much more in the way of complexity. In combat, a player will primarily be rolling to gain initiative and to inflict damage. Gaining the initiative—and therefore either the high ground or a point where an ambush can be performed—is important because it means that the Player Character can get a strike in first, inflict damage first, and hopefully defeat an opponent. This is because very attack hits and inflicts damage. Damage is rolled by weapon type, from a four-sided die for sling shots to a ten-sided die for a polearm, but attack damage can be reduced to a four-sided die no matter what the weapon if the combatants are fighting from a position of weakness or increased to a twelve-sided die if fighting from a position of strength.

Armour reduces damage, which is then deducted from the Player Character’s Hit Protection. Once that is reduced to zero, it is deducted from the defendant’s Strength. When this happens, a Strength Save is required to avoid taking critical damage. This is immediately crippling and lethal not that long after… If a defendant’s Strength is reduced to zero, then he dies anyway. If the Player Character’s Hit Protection is reduced to exactly zero without any Strength damage. The amount of damage suffered determines the result. For example, a two means that the Player Character suffers a Rattling Blow, and is disoriented and shaken. The player describes how his character refocuses and rerolls his character’s Hit Protection.

In the long term, Scars are the primary way in which the Player Characters improve. Most have the player reroll his character’s Hit Protection. If higher than the character’s maximum Hit Protection, then the new maximum is kept. Others though, do the same for the Player Character’s Strength, Dexterity, or Will. In this way, suffering Scars becomes a learning experience for the Player Character. An uncertain one, but a learning experience nonetheless.

All Player Characters in Cairn can read and cast magic from a Spellbook, each of which holds one spell. The secret to writing spells is unknown and Spellbooks are mostly looted from dungeons and tombs. It is fatiguing to cast spells—modelled by having one Inventory slot filled temporarily to reflect tiredness and ability to carry items. A list of some hundred spells is included, such as Astral Prison, Flare, Ooze Form, or True Sight. Casting a spell can be done again and again, but the caster’s Fatigue grows, until he is exhausted and cannot cast any more. The variety of spells, their relative power, and the fact that they cannot be replicated makes them worth searching for.

Also searching for are Relics. These are items of magical power, perhaps imbued with a spell. Although they do not cause fatigue when used, they have limited use and the examples given possess strict means of being recharged. For example, the Honeyclasp is a rusted ring which can shrink the wearer to six inches tall and has three charges. To recharge it, it must be bathed in a thimble-sized cup of royal jelly. The few Relics here are clever and pleasing and different. However, Relics are not Treasure. Treasure—as stated in the principles at the start of Cairn, is always specific to the environment from where it is recovered, tells a story, is highly valuable, likely bulky, rarely useful beyond its worth and prestige, and in terms of game play, used as a lure to exotic locations under the protection of intimidating foes. However, there are no examples of treasure of Cairn and that contributes towards the primary issue with the roleplaying game.
Cairn includes a short bestiary of creatures, such as the Root Goblin, the Wood Troll, and the Frost Elf. These are nicely detailed and possess a certain flavour, and the bestiary is paralleled literally with a guide to creating monsters. Much like the rest of Cairn, these guidelines are short and to the point, and they include guideline for converting creatures and monsters from other Old School Renaissance roleplaying games.

So far, so good. What Cairn does is provide a simple, sturdy set of rules that play quickly and are quick to set up by the players, plus a few examples of what might be found or encountered when playing the game. Then nothing. In fact, not just one nothing, but rather three nothings, all of which could have been addressed in a handful of pages. The first omission is a lack of setting. One is implied, that the Player Characters are exploring a mysterious woodland, filled with all manner of creatures fae and fell, searching and pillaging ancient barrows, stealing powerful spellbooks, and slaying unspeakable monstrosities. Bar the half dozen monsters and four relics presented in the book, there is none of this implied setting on show, and hardly even that… So there is no example of a mysterious woodland at all. One such wood, Dolmenwood, is mentioned in the acknowledgements and that is a possible example of such a wood, but that wood tends towards a certain whimsy that Cairn does not necessarily lend itself to. Nor is there a discussion of what such a woodland might be or help and advice for the Game Master who wants to create one. That is the second omission, whilst the third is a lack of a scenario, and all three together means that Cairn is not only incomplete, but also fails to follow through on its implication.

Physically, Cairn is well presented, the writing to the point, and the artwork, all public domain, does much to suggest a dark forestial setting.

Cairn feels like it should be suited for a dark and gritty, grubby and mouldering campaign involving intrusions into the wilderness, exploring ancient woodlands, and delving into tombs and barrows of the ancient past, played by fragile men and women who might just learn from their experiences. It has the mechanics and rules to do this, quick and brutal, but backed up with some excellent design philosophies and principles placed at the front of the book. Yet as solid as the rules are in Cairn and as solid as its inspirations are in Into the Odd and Knave, Cairn ultimately fails as a complete RPG because it never follows through on its implied setting. It only tells you what that setting is, it never shows you what that setting is. When Cairn, Second Edition is published with either the setting, setting advice, scenario, or all three that current edition only implies, it will be a complete roleplaying game and all the better for it.

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: All Roads Point SouthPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Michael Bertolini

Setting: Jazz Age USAProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Fourteen page, 2.38 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: A race against time to stop the Rise of R’lyehPlot Hook: A break in at Yale puts the Investigators on the trail of a dangerous cult.
Plot Support: Five NPCs, no handouts, and four Mythos monsters.Production Values: Ordinary.
Pros# Scriptophobia# Thalassophobia# Potentially interesting cult versus cult situation# Perfect for the Call of Cthulhu Keeper who wants a project to develop of her own
Cons# Needs a strong edit# No final Sanity rewards or losses given# Core clue difficult to obtain
# Underwritten and underdeveloped plot# A collection of scenes rather than scenario
Conclusion# A collection of scenes from an unfinished and underdeveloped scenario that vaguely apes elements of The Call of Cthulhu by H.P. Lovecraft.# Underwhelming and uninteresting scenario whose roads point to the less than perfect Shadows of Yog-Sothoth as a better purchase rather than south.

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: Gold FeverPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Erik Åhlin

Setting: Jazz Age SwedenProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-nine page, 9.56 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “All that glisters is not gold.”Plot Hook: A missing son leads to murder, mystery, and the Mythos under the Midnight Sun.
Plot Support: Twelve NPCs, five (ten) handouts, and two Mythos monsters.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Silver medalist for the 2022 national Swedish Call of Cthulhu scenario competition# Solid Sweden-set investigation# Detailed notes and handouts provided to adapt the scenario to the USA# Engaging portrayal of period Sweden# Good handouts# Potential for expansion into the Dreamlands# Easy to adapt to other time periods# Ophidiophobia# Aurophobia

Cons# Needs an edit# Clearer final Sanity rewards and losses needed 
# No Swedish pre-generated Investigators# If the silver medal winning scenario is as solid as this, how good is the gold medal winning scenario?
Conclusion# Worthy medal winner in the 2022 national Swedish Call of Cthulhu scenario competition # Impressively decent scenario combines solid investigation with an engaging portrayal of Sweden in the 1920s

Ruins of the Lost Realm is the first supplement for The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings, which opens up new sites and new plots beyond those in both the core book and The One Ring Starter Set. It ranges far and wide beyond the borders of the sleepy Shire across what was once the great kingdom of Arnor, first split petty feuds and then destroyed by the forces of the Witch-King of Angmar. What remains are long stretches of wilderness and dark lands, punctuated by places and sites where hope may yet lie, darkness and remnants of Shadow hide, and plots await their turning and eventual culmination at the hand of factions that reach out from beyond the very borders of this land. The locations include Tharbad, a ruined river port ruled with the tightest of fists which could become an important trade stop and so help bind the peoples of the north and south together or it could become a path for the Shadow to reach into the region. Swanfleet, a refuge fiercely protected by its inhabitants, which include giant swans and talking otters—the latter prepared to act as a guide for a price, their payment saved in a riverbank!—hides secrets and great knowledge, which could prove useful or be lost. Eryn Vorn, one of the last remnants of the great forests which stretched across Middle-earth, including The Old Forest and Fangorn, inhabited by bloodthirsty savages which could be unleashed upon the region if they fall under the sway of certain factions. This is the land known as Eriador, a land rougher and wilder than Rhovanion, the region to the east of the Misty Mountains, for here in the Lone-lands there are few if any kingdoms, only isolated points of hope, let alone civilisation.

Ruins of the Lost Realm is a regional guide to the lands of southern Eriador, casting a spotlight on particular locations, important individuals at each, and the grand plots that will play out and befall the region if nothing is done to stop them. It does not include any pre-written scenarios as such, but throughout there are numerous plots, both immediate and long term, that the Loremaster can use and develop for her campaign. In two instances, the city of Tharbad and the village of Lond Daer downstream from the river port, this has required some looser interpretation of the source texts for the region, primarily for playability, but the authors are upfront about it and advise that the Loremaster can change it to fit her interpretation. The book itself is divided into three quite lengthy chapters.

‘Chapter 1: Fog Over Eriador’ explores some of the key regions and persons of note, primarily to the south of Bree. Particular attention is paid to the once great river port of Tharbad, noted for the ships it once built and the mighty bridge, with its numerous arches and towers, which once crossed the river the city stands on, but is now stands ruined. Tharbad though, remains an important trade stop on the road, and could be a significant one if its lord, Gurnow, Captain of the Haven has his way. A former bandit, he rules with an iron fist, taxing anyone who wishes to leave, especially if a craftsman or merchant who can bring Tharbad wealth. There is a seedy criminality to the city, but also a sense of desperation too. Gurnow has no designated heir, his thuggish sons ready to send the city into civil war should he die. However, there are allies for the Player-heroes to be found, including a librarian with access to great deal of lore who could become a Patron, plus, numerous factions outside the region have taken an interest in events in the city.

Other factions and regions detailed here include the aforementioned Swanfleet and Eryn Vorn, but also Lond Daer, a village downstream from Tharbad which following her slaying the serpent which threatened it, is becoming a town under Queen Nimue, aided by the occasional guidance of the Grey Wizard himself, Gandalf; the Dwarf Halls of Harmelt, ancient mines in the Blue Mountains, where a desperate band of Dwarves dig in order to prove that the gold in the mines has not played out and their wealth and standing has not been lost; and also the Ruins of Cardolan and the Lone-lands of Minhiriath. These last two are overviews, first of what remains of the last kingdom of the Núménoreans—mostly their watch towers like that at Weathertop, and the second, the seemingly empty lands of what was once Arnor. However, it is the city of Tharbad which stands out here and is given a gorgeous map in the inside front cover of the book. As potential starting point or base of operations for the Player-heroes, Thardbad is noticeably darker and dirtier than previously presented would be Havens in The One Ring, but that highlights the rougher and darker feel of the Lone-lands.

‘Chapter Two: A Gathering Storm’ provides the Loremaster with details of several external factions with designs on the region. Although others are mentioned, three are given particular attention—a band of Black Núménoreans sent by Sauron, agents of Saruman looking for ring lore, and raiders from Dunland. All come from the south, and all have unique goals, agents, and resources, which are described in detail. The Black Núménoreans are sent by Sauron, and sail up from Umbar aboard a black fortress ship, and then travel ashore up the rivers in search of Rivendell. Saruman is the most subtle of the three factions, sending agents across the region in search of ring lore, whilst the Dunlenders are the least subtle, raiding and spreading their influence through force, secretly with the backing of Saruman. Each faction also has its own ‘Dark Designs’, a year-by-year timeline of what happens if their plans come to fruition. These run from the year 2965, the default starting year for The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings, and end in 2975.

Use of these factions and their timelines by the Loremaster are entirely optional, but they are great narrative tools around which she can frame her campaign. They are notable for two points. One is the fact that the three timelines are contradictory—and contradictory by design. This represents the competing, although they are not necessarily aware of it, goals of the three factions, so it is possible to have them clash over their goals or simply focus on one or two of the factions and still have them threaten locations. The other notable fact is the presence of Saruman who we know will have become a villain by the time of The Lord of the Rings. The Loremaster is advised not to foreshadow this in her campaign and maintain him as primarily a force for good in the region, and even a possible Patron for the Player-heroes. Overall, these factions and timelines are a great tool for the Loremaster.

‘Chapter Three: Landmarks’ is the last and largest chapter in Ruins of the Lost Realm, taking up over half of the book. As its title suggests, it deals with individual locations or landmarks, each a possible adventure site. Each comes an associated rumour and lore, background, location, and more, including artefacts, NPCs, and one or more maps. One, ‘The Queen’s Hall’ in Lond Dear, expands upon a location detailed earlier in the book, adding further detail and presenting more as a playable location. Most are new though. ‘The Queen’s Hall’ is a potential place of safety as is ‘The Ranger-haven’ south of the Trollshaws, whilst ‘The White Towers’ treasured holdings of the Elves of Lindon which house a palantír, are a potential site of learning and for Saruman, of ring lore. Other locations explore the region’s history, for example, ‘Tindailin – an Elven Refuge’ which has fallen into horror from loss and heartache, and ‘The Fields of Slaughter’, the site of the Battle of Fornost at which a host of Elves and Men (plus Hobbits) defeated the armies of the Witch-king where spirits and the unquiet dead still wander. Most though, are sites of danger and threat, the worst of which is ‘Mount Gram’, a goblin-infested, skull-faced mountain in the far north.

Ruins of the Lost Realm is not a fully fledged campaign, but rather a toolkit with which the Loremaster can build a campaign. The primary structure for the campaign will be built around which of the three factions and their projected timelines the Loremaster decides to use, and these will likely send the Player-heroes off hither and thither to the various Landmarks detailed in the supplement. This means that the Loremaster will need to undertake some development work of her own, though in some cases, the Landmarks are already pre-written as encounters and mini-scenarios. All the Loremaster has to do is find a way for the Player-heroes to get there. There is some overlap in details between chapters, but these help to enforce the links between locations rather than simply repeat content. If there is an issue perhaps, it is the lack of a starting point or way into the campaign possibilities that Ruins of the Lost Realm suggests, but that lack is one which affects The One Ring: Roleplaying in the World of Lord of the Rings as a whole rather than just this supplement.

Physically, Ruins of the Lost Realm is stunning, following the same style as the core rulebook. It is very cleanly presented in a clear, open style, and the content itself is engaging to read. In particular, the maps are excellent, whether of Tharbad, the region, or the individual Landmarks, the latter done in three dimensions rather than from overhead. The artwork is also very good, a pen and ink style that captures the old-world rustic charm of Middle-earth and its ruins and wilderness. The style and look echoes that of the classic editions of The Lord of the Rings trilogy published by Allen & Unwin, and has a more scholarly feel as if Bilbo himself sat down to write it.

Ruins of the Lost Realm is not a regional guide to Eriador nor is it a set of scenarios or a campaign, but rather the means for the Loremaster to develop a campaign of her own. That may well be a problem in its own right, since it is not providing an easy way into playing and running The One Ring, and so Ruins of the Lost Realm is very much a supplement better suited to the experienced Loremaster rather than one new to the task. Nevertheless, for the Loremaster ready to develop a campaign set in the Lone-lands of Eriador, Ruins of the Lost Realm provides the Loremaster with everything she needs—lore, legends, plots, places, monsters, and NPCs, to make the campaign her own.

The Cursed Library: A book of scary one-shot short storiesis an anthology of scenarios for use with Shiver – Role-playing Tales in the Strange & the Unknown. Published by Parable Games, this is a fast-playing, dramatic, and generic horror roleplaying game which combines simple, thematic mechanics built around archetypal characters and a simple propriety dice mechanic, combined with a Doom Clock which escalates the tension and a wide selection of classic, nasty monsters. The Cursed Library contains five scenarios inspired by horror films old and new, ranging from The Thing and Children of the Corn to Alien and Bone Tomahawk. Consequently, each of the scenario has a very film-like feel and structure, and the film-like feel even starts before a scenario gets down to explaining the plot and the set-up to the Director by preceding it with a certificate from the ‘Shiver Board of Classification’. This lists the expected playing time, number of players, horror subgenre, film age rating, content warning, suggested ability levels for the Player Characters, and a watchlist. The latter is a list of three films that the Director can watch to understand both the tone of the scenario and its inspiration. The film age rating uses the ratings used by the British Board of Film Classification and of the five scenarios in The Cursed Library, one is rated ‘12’,whilst the other four are all rated ‘15’.
The help and structure in The Cursed Library does not end with either the ‘Shiver Board of Classification’ or the end of the scenario itself. Each scenario begins by explaining what the Director knows, the set-up for the Player Characters, the types of character that fit the scenario and their archetypes in Shiver, and then after the scenario there are suggestions as to how to expand the story, helps and hints to better run the scenario, and of course, each scenario comes with a list of Doom Clock Events and new weapons, equipment, monsters, and NPCs. Every scenario in Shiver is played against the clock as it ticks down to midnight, primarily due to the actions of the Player Characters, and at ‘Quarter Past’, ‘Half Past’, ‘Quarter To’, and ‘Midnight’ certain events will happen. Each of the six scenarios provides four such events suited to both subgenre and the story. The new weapons, equipment, monsters, and NPCs are all potentially useful for the Director if she wants to use them in scenarios of her devising.
The Cursed Library: A book of scary one-shot short stories opens with ‘The Lost Ship’, inspired by The Thing, The Void, and Event Horizon. There is a dash of The X-Files in there too as the Player Characters are members of a Special Ops team assigned to locate the USS Morningstar, a United States Navy research vessel operating in the Artic which has lost communication with the outside world. When the scenario starts out in Barrow, the first response is to think of a vampire attack as in 30 Days of Night, but ‘The Lost Ship’ is actually a tale of cosmic horror than bloodsuckers. The scenario has a pleasing sense of frigid isolation as the Player Characters locate and descend into the bowels of the ship and things seem to come out of the walls and floor at them. The monsters too are fantastically otherworldly too and that is ultimately where the Player Characters will have to deal with the threat currently contained within the hull of the USS Morningstar. This is an action-packed opener which gets the anthology of to a good start.
The second scenario combines Stranger Things, People Under the Stairs, and The Haunting and sets it all on Halloween. ‘All Hallow’s Eve’ is a set in any small town with creepy old house where no one lives, in which many a teenager is challenged to see how long they will last inside its walls. The ultimate bragging rights go to the kid who can stay the whole night. This year it is the turn of the Player Characters—as teenagers from the local high school—to test their resolve, but this time when they cross the threshold, the front door not only closes, but locks too! The scenario combines two puzzles in one—how to get out of the house and what happened to the original owners. Thus the Player Characters are on the hunt for clues to both, forcing them to explore the house and in the process encounter all manner of classic haunted house elements. Animated suits of armour, Ouija boards, demonic toys, things in the bathtub, and more. The horror in the scenario tends towards being creepy rather bloody, but the Director can dial either up or down as necessary, and there are some fun suggestions as to what do with the outcome of the scenario. These include having the front door open to somewhere else rather than their hometown when the Player Characters finally get all the keys necessary to unlock it or secrets being revealed that lead the Player Characters to investigate the original owner’s background. This is a fun scenario in which both players and the Keeper play up the clichés and enjoy its gothic Americana.
‘Dark Prospect’ is set on the frontier of the Wild west in the town of Hope’s hallow. Inspired by The Blob, Bone Tomahawk, and The Descent, the fortunes of the town rest on the mines in nearby Deadwater Peak, so when all news dries up of the miners, the local sheriff—backed up by the mine owner’s $2 reward (each)—raises a local posse and rides into the mountains, up to the mine, and from there descend into the depths. Compared to the other scenarios in the anthology, this is a smaller, much tighter, and more linear affair, and more physical too.
Inspired by Alien, Event Horizon, and Starship Troopers, the fourth scenario, ‘Protocol’ is a Science Fiction thriller set in outer space. The crew and passengers of the CCV Pilgrim respond to a distress call from a nearby planet and discover a downed vessel with the majority of its crew missing despite there being signs of their being alive when the ship went down. The clues point elsewhere and if the Player Characters follow them they discover another crashed starship, this with its own definitely missing crew and still the mystery of what happened to the crew of the ship that sent the distress call. ‘Protocol’ very much takes its cues from the xenomorphs of Alien and works hard with them. It all ends with a desperate race to get back to their shuttle and back off planet as the true nature of the threat is revealed…
The final scenario in the anthology is ‘Mr Husk’. Inspired by just Children of the Corn and Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, this is a rural slasher Folk Horror scenario. It is the seventies, and the Player Characters are driving through the flat Midwest with nothing to see but cornfields, when their vehicle breaks down. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, the Player Characters are going to need help, but what they find at the nearest farm is horror in the barn. With limited locations, but wide-open spaces of the cornfields, there is room here for stalking the Player Characters as they try and hide and get away from the farm and what is going on there (Clue: It is not cannibalism!) This is the shortest of the scenarios in The Cursed Library and the most flexible, instead having set Player Characters, it suggests a range of character types including Vietnam veterans, travelling salesmen, a band going from gig to gig, and even some low budget film makers looking to shoot some film… ‘Mr Husk’ brings the collection to a close with a swing of the scythe.
Physically, The Cursed Library is much like the core rulebook for Shiver. The artwork is excellent for the most part, done in a style similar to that of Mike Mignola and his Hellboy comic, and very much showcases the type of horror stories that Shiver was designed to handle. The writing is clear, but does need a stronger edit in places and the cartography is too plain for each scenario’s needs.
From its choice of subgenres to its choice of plots, The Cursed Library is one big book of horror clichés and familiar plots. However, that is far from being a bad thing. After all, Shiver is designed to deliver fast-playing, dramatic, and generic horror in which the players roleplay horror archetypes in various subgenres, and that is what The Cursed Library delivers. Its stories are not so much horror clichés as horror archetypes, just like the Player Characters, and they complement each other. The five scenarios in the anthology will be familiar to many, after all, they are film-inspired, but knowing and playing into that familiarity is part of the fun with a generic horror roleplaying game. Both player and Director alike need to load up on popcorn and fizzy drinks, lean into the clichés of the subgenres in five horror scenarios in The Cursed Library: A book of scary one-shot short stories, and together, they will have a blast.

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SHIVER: Double Feature, the next expansion for Shiver – Role-playing Tales in the Strange & the Unknown is currently being funded on Gamefound.

One of the best books—and the most useful—of 2021 was The Staffortonshire Trading Company Works of John Williams. Published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess, this is a systems neutral supplement—which means it is not written for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplaying—which can be used with almost any roleplaying game. It is a collection of maps and illustrations based on seventeenth century historical references, first from the British Isles, then across Europe to around the world. Shops, taverns, hovels, fortifications, early industrial buildings, churches, universities, and so much are mapped in painstakingly beautiful detail and made easily accessible in the one volume. To fair, I am not unbiased, since this was a volume that I edited—but the cartography is both clear and easy to use, and that is not something that I am responsible for. That would be down to Glynn Seal, designer and publisher of the Midderlands setting through his Monkey BloodDesign. Not content with providing the maps for The Staffortonshire Trading Company Works of John Williams and the Midderlands setting, the cartographer has drawn and produced his own set of maps. Actually, not one set of maps or two, but three.

The HandyMaps series consists of three packs—HandyMaps – Buildings & Structures, HandyMaps – Towns & Villages, and HandyMaps – Dungeons, Caves, & Strange Locales. Each of the three was funded via Kickstarter— HandyMaps – Buildings & Structures, HandyMaps – Towns & Villages, and HandyMaps – Dungeons, Caves, & Strange Locales, and each consists of several double-sided cards in A5-size—148 mm × 210 mm, each done in black and white, and depicting the maps, plans, and floor plans of various locations. The cards are sturdy and in general unmarked with details. There are no numbers or names applied to them, enabling the Game Detail them however she wishes and so use them in her campaign as she likes.

HandyMaps – Buildings & Structures consists of twenty-six cards. They have a floorplan of a building on one side and an illustration of the building on other. The floor plans are done in black and white, whilst the illustration is in full colour. They are drawn on a five-feet grid and are marked with possible suggestions as to their use. So, the first map in the pack looks like a church, complete with a statue, a balcony above the ground floor, a tower, and what might be crypts below possibly accessible from a sewer. The suggestions for floorplans are church, temple, village hall, and gallery. Still connected to the sewer via the basement, more mundane is the two-storey warehouse/storage business, crate and barrel maker, ironmongers, and ship and crew hire, which stands over an open storage or possibly, a marketplace. Other buildings include an industrial site, which could be a forge, glassblowers, or pottery maker; a museum, art gallery, or temple which extends far underground, but has a statue atop that is a nod to one of the goblins in Monkey Blood Seal’s Midderlands setting; and a lop-sided building which could be an eel seller, a cooked eel seller, an eel breeder, a fishing tackle shop, or a dwelling. An obelisk might be a monument, a dimensional anchor, memorial, or summoning device, blow which a shaft extends down into the ground where there is a strange room… There is a huge variety to these maps. Not just from one set of floor plans to another, but there is variety and flexibility with individual floor plans too, since each has multiple different suggested uses. For example, the coastal tower with basement and cave tunnels to the cliff face is first listed as a lighthouse and its illustration and floorplan certainly suggest that. Alternative uses are listed as watch tower, smuggler’s den, wizard’s tower, or signal tower. Thus, the Game Master can show her players the illustration on the front and flip it over to show the floor plans, and even if the Player Characters have seen the building before and been inside, they do not what might be inside or to what use the building is being put to.

HandyMaps – Towns & Villages is in some ways the least useful and the least flexible of the three packs, mostly because the buildings are often obvious in what they are. However, the suggested uses goes a long way to mitigate this. It consists of maps of various towns and villages, including a walled town overlooked by a castle, a town of concentric walls, a large village with field boundaries marked around them, a river port, a hamlet surrounding an abbey on a hill, a port with a castle or fort on a spit of land, and a village threaded through a cave system in the middle of a river. These are all standalone pieces, but with this set, the Game Master has access to twelve cards and thus twenty-four maps, and thus a variety of maps and locations and layouts. Which means a decent selection of towns and villages with which she can populate her campaign world.

HandyMaps – Dungeons, Caves, & Strange Locales returns to the format of HandyMaps – Towns & Villages with maps on both sides of the cards. There are twenty-four cards in the set and thus the Game Master is provided with a total of forty-eight maps—or at least that is what the number of cards would suggest. In fact, there are more, because some cards contain two or three maps of smaller locations on a side, so there are closer to sixty maps in the set rather than simply forty-eight. Again, like HandyMaps – Towns & Villages they are not named, but being primarily dungeon locations, they are marked with secret doors, elevation changes, and the like. They are typically marked with a five- or ten-foot grid. Where necessary side elevations are provided for clarification. What is obvious about the set is its wider scope for inventiveness and the cartographer’s mixing of terrains. For example, a system of flooded cave or an underground river system leads to tomb or a lakeside cave opens up to network smaller caves in the rocks in the lake leading to rough hewn rooms what could be cells or tombs, and together with what could be a chapel leading off the main cave, could be a monastery or a set of catacombs. Some do stand out, such as the waterfall above a pool from which juts a giant finger of rock through which a tunnel leads to an underwater cave or lair; a ruined tower with stairs descending to a cave system that has been painstakingly worked until it resembles a skull; a large mine marked with damaged rails for the mining carts; an elongated cave network that curves out of a worked building into the form of a snake.

What the HandyMaps – Dungeons, Caves, & Strange Locales pack is not is a set of dungeon geomorphs, that is, dungeon sections designed to be cut out and laid down so that they connect to each other and so form a larger whole. There is still room for such a product from Monkey Blood Design, but with HandyMaps – Dungeons, Caves, & Strange Locales, all of the maps are designed to be discrete, although an inventive Game Master could connect them if she so wished.

Physically, each of the three sets in the series—HandyMaps – Buildings & Structures, HandyMaps – Towns & Villages, and HandyMaps – Dungeons, Caves, & Strange Locales—is solidly produced. They are presented on stiff grey card, the floor plans and maps being crisp and easy to read, and the illustrations of the buildings in the HandyMaps – Buildings & Structures done in muddy, almost washed-out colours. If there is an issue with the three sets it is that there is no index card listing the floor plans and maps and none of the cards or maps have a number or letter. The inclusion of such a letter or number would make the maps easier to use as the Game Master can note down which map or floor plan she has used and as what. Of course, if the Game Master has access to the PDFs for these sets, then she can save, print, and mark them up as she likes. They are also very useful for online play.

Maps play such an important role in roleplaying, especially fantasy roleplaying, that having maps to hand is always going to be useful. They can serve as inspiration, and they can fulfil a need if the Game Master wants a particular map or floor plan. The individual locations and floor plans—especially those of the HandyMaps – Towns & Villages and HandyMaps – Dungeons, Caves, & Strange Locales—lend themselves to campaign building, the Game Master adding them as she fits to a larger map where her campaign or world is set. Then of course, each map pack is a lovely thing to have and the three map packs do fit in a sturdy box also available from the publisher.

Altogether, the HandyMaps – Buildings & Structures, HandyMaps – Towns & Villages, and HandyMaps – Dungeons, Caves, & Strange Locales live up to their name—handy and maps. Useful as inspiration as much as maps, Glynn Seal’s excellent cartography in the series will help bring a game to life and for the modern Game Master are even more useful for online play.

Curse of the Daughterbrides is a horror of a scenario, with a horrible set-up, a horrid plot, and a horrendous curse. First in the activities of the main NPCs, who break a terrible taboo, and second, in the unexpected effect of a curse cast upon the main NPCs that instead affects almost everyone else. Its set-up is likely to upset a few, thankfully, whilst there are likely to be more than that, much more, who will be upset by the effect of the curse, and then of course, there will plenty who will take offence at just everything to do with the scenario. Curse of the Daughterbrides is a scenario for use with Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay, and whilst the name of that roleplaying game is likely to arouse the ire of many people, let alone the fact that the scenario is written by the publisher, the likelihood is that the scenario’s subject matters are likely to anger them more. So as the title suggests, or at least hints, Curse of the Daughterbrides, deals with incest. That then is the taboo broken in the scenario. The effect of the curse is suicide, both by the NPCs—typically in front of the Player Characters—and because the curse spreads, by the Player Characters themselves. There is no Saving Throw. Given the way that the curse works, there is a strong possibility of a TPK—a Total Party Kill. Or rather, a Total Party Kill Themselves. However, it can be avoided, though doing so in the long term will be a challenge, and there are ways to potentially lift the curse. Which would solve the problem of the curse, but not the taboo.

Curse of the Daughterbrides, like other scenarios published by Lamentations of the Flame Princess it is set in the game’s default early Modern Period. Specifically, in 1630 England, so it would work well with several of the other publisher’s titles or equally easily adapted to the retroclone of the Game Master’s choice. Though to be fair, it is very more of a one-shot and whilst the author suggests ways in which the scenario could be added to an ongoing campaign, he even states that the scenario is unsuitable for ongoing play. As the scenario opens, the Player Characters are visiting the Cornish village of Dammell Green—the scenario suggests that the Game Master come up with a reason—where the local festival is being held. Normally this would be pleasant, even jolly affair, but not this year. Pandemonium seems to have rained on the event and everyone there, man, woman, and child, including attendees and stallholders is dead. Almost fifty people dead and it seems by their own hand. As the Player Characters go about the small village they encounter surviving villagers, who do two things. First, they tell the Player Characters that they are screwed and second, they kill themselves using the nearest available means in front of the Player Characters. With that, the Player Characters know that they cursed, how the curse works, and that they are now vectors for the curse. A curse, remember, which will drive them to commit suicide under the right circumstances.

So what exactly, is going on in Dammell Green?

Not long before the Player Characters arrived in the village, a Wizard attending the festive encountered a family he had met before. A family he knew to practise incest, and, in his disgust, he cursed them. Unfortunately, the magical fortitude of family caused the curse to rebound affect everyone else nearby. Which it did. To terrible effect. Now the family—the family of the Daughterbrides of the title—can be talked and reasoned with. They are actually nice people. The elderly patriarch of the family, Daveth Nancarrow—he of the daughterbrides—will be protective of his family and simply want to move on. His daughters and his daughters and his daughters will defer to him, again, wanting to leave the village lest they attract trouble. The Player Characters can also find the offending and offended wizard, but is unlikely to be of immediate help.

Several solutions to the curse are suggested. The Game Master is free to choose whichever feels more appropriate. The Game Master is supported with a detailed background of the family and various members at the heart of the scenario, including a family tree, details of Neythan Liddicoat, the Wizard and his curse, advice on setting the scenario up rather than running it, a list of potential victims for the Player Characters to ensnare in the curse, and a description of the village.

There is even a Daughterbride Class given should a player decide he wants one of the brides of Daveth Nancarrow as his character in future campaigns. The anti-magical ability of the Class explains why the curse cast upon them by Neythan Liddicoat failed to work. The Class is not without its roleplaying challenges, but there definitely would have to be some lines and veils drawn for some scenes when playing her. Though of course, why would you?

Physically, Curse of the Daughterbrides is well presented. It is well written, the map is clear, and the image of an old-fashioned razor used over and over decent enough. To be fair, it is almost a relief that the various situations in the scenario are not illustrated.

The confluence of two wrongs at the heart of Curse of the Daughterbrides do set up a pair of moral quandaries that the players and their characters may have to find a solution for in the scenario. One is what to do with the Wizard whose curse went awry, and the other is what to do with the incestuous Daveth Nancarrow and his brood. Both are left up to the Game Master and her players to address, but if they can get to that point and if not necessarily deal with them both, then at least discuss the possible outcomes, perhaps there is at least some positive outcome to the suffering that the scenario puts everyone through.

Curse of the Daughterbrides does not revel in its subject matter. In fact, it is quite straightforward about it. Which makes it easy to run, and probably as a single-session one-shot. It is simple enough that it possible to envision it being played and potential outcomes explored. Yet why would you? The subject matters at the heart of the scenario are ghastly, genuinely capable of upsetting some people and disgusting others, let alone the fact that the potential outcome of the scenario could be frustrating from a play perspective or that the Game Master might have to describe fifty ways of killing yourself at a village festival. Which is unpleasant in its own way. The subject matters though, remain unpleasant and unpalatable, and for many—despite what the author says—unsuitable to be included in a roleplaying scenario. This is not say that that either subject is unsuitable to be included in a roleplaying scenario, but here there is no delicacy or subtlety. The author is unashamedly pushing it into the faces of both the players and their characters, and again, that is likely to be too much for many a player.

The set-up of Curse of the Daughterbrides is a case of dropping the Player Characters into, if not a no-win situation, then one that is very close, and forcing them to work out how to get out of it. There are plenty of scenarios like that, but here the subject matters just make it worse.

There are going to be some who will be happy to play through Curse of the Daughterbrides, and they are to be commended for their mental fortitude, emotional strength, and hardy stomachs. Others though, should definitely avoid what is a horridly horrible horror of a scenario, very likely with good reason.

Lâminas & Feitiços or Blades & Spells is a minimalist fantasy roleplaying game from South America. In fact, Blades & Spells is another Bronze Age, Swords & Sorcery minimalist fantasy roleplaying game done in pamphlet form from Brazil. In actuality, Blades & Spells is a series of pamphlets, building from the core rules pamphlet to add optional rules, character archetypes, spells, a setting and its gods, and more, giving it the feel of a ‘plug and play’ toolkit. The Storyteller and her players can play using just the core rules, but beyond that, they are free to choose the pamphlets they want to use and just game with those, ignoring the others. So what is Blades & Spells? It describes itself as “…[A] simple, objective and dynamic minimalist RPG game where the Storyteller challenges the Player and not the character sheet.” It is written to pay homage to the classic Sword & Sorcery literature, uses the Basic Universal System—or ‘B.U.S.’—a simple set of mechanics using two six-sided dice, and in play is intended to challenge the player and his decisions rather than have the player rely upon what is written upon his character sheet. Which, being a minimalist roleplaying game, is not much. So although it eschews what the designer describes as the ‘classic restrictions’ of Class, Race, and Level, and it is very much not a Retroclone, there is no denying that Blades & Spells leans into the Old School Renaissance sensibilities.

Blades & Spells: An agile, objective and dynamic minimalist RPG provides the core rules to the roleplaying game. They are a simple, straightforward set of mechanics, emphasising a deadly world of adventure in which the heroes wield both weapons and magic. Beyond the core rules, Blades & Spells is fully supported with a series of optional pamphlets which expand upon its basics and turn it into a fully rounded roleplaying game. All together these might be seen as  the equivalent of a ‘Blades & Spells Companion’, although they just as easily could be combined into the one publication. In terms of setting, Blades & Spells only goes so far in stating that the default is the Bronze Age and hinting that this setting might be in the Middle East—or at least a fantasy version of it.

Blades & Spells: The Land of Aaman describes this setting. ‘The Land of Aaman’ is roughly analogous to ancient Mesopotamia in the lands between the Euphrates and the Tigris. The rivers here are the Numadai and Thaar, the lands between them a plateau dotted by ruins of societies past, including ragged ziggurats and complexes below them populated by aberrations and filled with treasures to be plundered. These are believed to be all that is left of great and glorious civilisations once ruled by demi-gods, washed away it is said in the sacred texts, by a cataclysmic flood. The plateau is home to eight city-states. These are described as being fairly similar, most of their tightly packed buildings being constructed of mud bricks and each city being dominated by a large ziggurat temple, a palace, and an arena where bloody gladiator bouts are staged to placate the masses. What separates the city-states are their reputations and the god that each holds to be supreme. For example, Aruk was once the seat to a mighty dynasty of kings, but has declined as the squabbles and intrigues of its nobility have grown, whilst the people of Aqeron, the largest city-state, worship Amurak, the sun god to the near exclusion of all other gods. 

Blades & Spells: The Land of Aaman does describe the ‘Lands Beyond’, but not in great detail. It mentions that the Numadai and Thaar flow into the Gulf of the Qoros Sea, that various primitive tribes inhabit the Gemini Delta, and that Amazon warriors raid the peoples of the plateau for both plunder and slaves. Also mentioned is Khmet, a great pharaonic kingdom that sits on the banks of a mighty river that divides a wide desert.

Blades & Spells: The Lands Beyond goes into further detail than The Land of Aaman does, in turn, describing Kandar’s Range, the Kingdom of Khmet, and the Middle Sea. In most cases, it is easy to determine what their real-world analogies are. Thus, the Kingdom of Khmet is Ancient Egypt, straddling the great Gonn river and wealthy enough to erect huge pyramidal temples and monuments, whilst Kandar’s Range is all but impassable Himalayas, home to a forbidden monastery on the frigid plateau of Daru, where veiled monks worship in secret. The slopes of the mountains are renowned for rare and wonderful herbs that grown in their soil. These include the trance and vison-inducing lotus as well as the Lo’Ra herb, sought by many arcanists wanting to use it in their rituals. Far to the south-east of the plateau is the kingdom of Hindra, rich in spices, ivory domes, fakirs, and mystics, and thus roughly analogous to India. The supplement also details the nations along the Middle Sea which separates the Kingdom of Khmet from its nearest neighbours as well as those along the Sea Qoros into which the Numadai and Thaar flow. This includes the Amazons of Xendria.
As overviews of a setting, both Blades & Spells: The Land of Aaman and Blades & Spells: The Lands Beyond are fine. As useful descriptions of a campaign setting, they are anything but. Between the two them there simply is not enough playable content and not enough for the Game Master to really work with and create adventures from. There are no maps in either supplement, and that is less of an issue than perhaps possible scenario hooks or a little more detail that might have made them stand out a little and thus been more useful for the Game Master.
Physically, both Blades & Spells: The Land of Aaman and Blades & Spells: The Lands Beyond are fine. The layout is clean and tidy, and both titles are easy to read.
Blades & Spells: The Land of Aaman and Blades & Spells: The Lands Beyond together do provide context and setting for the Blades & Spells: An agile, objective and dynamic minimalist RPG if not the detail. They are at best a starting point for the Blades & Spells Game Master—and that is likely the point, but it does not prevent the reader from wishing that there was a little detail to make the land of Aaman stand out.

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—
Name: The Pharaoh’s SacrificePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Keith DEdinburgh

Setting: Jazz Age EdinburghProduct: Scenario
What You Get: Fifty page, 2.66 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Some moves in the game will make you lose more than the game.Plot Hook: Missing anthropologist leads to ludographic horror!
Plot Support: Eight NPCs, twelve handouts, two maps, one Mythos spell, one Mythos tome, and two Mythos monsters.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Solid Edinburgh-set investigation# Potential addition to a Shadows Over Scotland campaign# Engaging combination of themes# Good handouts# Intriguing twist upon the widower bringing wife back from the dead set-up
# Ludophobia
Cons# Intriguing twist upon the widower bringing wife back from the dead set-up# More maps would have been useful
# Unnecessary Sanity losses in places# Potential for Investigators and players to get lost in rabbit holes# Jumpity is not a real game
Conclusion# Clichéd backstory and motivations are enlivened by solid investigation and engaging combination of themes# Decently done handouts support a scenario easily added to a Scotland or United Kingdom-set campaign

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—
Name: A Balance of BloodPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Matt Puccio

Setting: Kingdom of Armenia, Second Century C.E.Product: Scenario
What You Get: Forty-two page, 5.18 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Identifying the greater evil can be a diplomatic challengePlot Hook: Diplomatic envoys discover a house of horror and woe
Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators with backgrounds, three maps, six  NPCs, one spell, one Mythos tome, and two Mythos monsters.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Scenario for Cthulhu Invictus# Interesting location for a Cthulhu Invictus scenario# Pleasing sense of tension# Every NPC is monstrous!# Potential Cthulhu Invictus campaign starter# Detailed investigation# Good advice for portraying the NPCs# Nicely illustrated# Gerontophobia
Cons# Needs an edit# Some locations not mapped# Illustrations could be used as handouts, but no handouts!# Needs a careful read through by the Keeper
Conclusion# Investigators must face night terrors and day terrors in a meaty investigation at the edge of the empire where identifying either victim or ally will prove challenging.
# Solid scenario for Cthulhu Invictus with an interesting historical background and setting.