A Chill in Abashiri – 1920s Japan Call of Cthulhu

This is an overview of my Call of Cthulhu scenario, A Chill in Abashiri – A 1920s Taisho-Era Japan Scenario.

A Chill in Abashiri Overview – A 1920s Taisho-Era Japan Call of Cthulhu Scenario
This is a review for my own Call of Cthulhu scenario, A Chill in Abashiri. You can read the text version on mjrrpg.com. You can purchase A Chill in Abashiri on DriveThruRPG, and as a thank you for listening, the link will take you to a discounted version.

In Short: An investigation-heavy scenario in a frigid northern Japanese prison, for players and Keepers wanting a long single session or dual sessions of mystery and seclusion.

No spoilers for Players and Keepers:

As this is my own scenario this is not a review, but an overview letting players get a feel for what might be in store for them and to give some extra ideas and guidance to Keepers.

Before deciding on A Chill in Abashiri, the Keeper and players should know that they are getting into a scenario that is largely a free form investigation in a limited location, though there is still plenty of fatal danger. Players should be ready to take the initiative, as once they arrive in the main location, the immediate events largely be up to them. Keepers of course can run the scenario however they like, but in general, the first half of the scenario progresses at the pace the investigators set.

The scenario also makes use of its setting in ways players and Keepers should be ready for. Imperialism, colonialism, and political repression heighten in 1920s Japan, and these themes exist in the scenario, though how directly the players will deal with them of course depends on the group. Historical accuracy is not the main goal (the prison layout, beyond general shape, is mostly fictional), but Keepers and players can of course adjust it either way to suit their needs.

If you’re looking for a mystery with paranoia, environment and social seclusion, and an icy-cold setting, then that is what I hope you’ll find in this scenario. Dress warm and watch your backs within the walls of Abashiri Prison. You never know who’s watching.

The scenario comes with four pregenerated investigators to choose from, handouts, a map of the prison, and PC and NPC art. Depending on how the investigators fair by the scenario’s end, they could have very different avenues to continue their adventures in Japan if desired.

As a little present for taking a look at my site, you can use this link to get A Chill in Abashiri for a discounted $3.95. If you enjoy it, or even if you despise it, I’d very much love to read your review on DTRPG.

If you’re a player, halt and flee, for there be spoilers ahead.

Before you go, though, maybe you would be interested in reading some other scenario reviews?

MJRRG: Branches of Bone – Cthulhu Dark Ages, A Chill in Abashiri – A 1920s Taisho-Era Japan

Seeds of Terror: Series Overview, The Mummy of Pemberley Grange, Endless Light, One Less Grave, Hand of Glory, Tickets Please , Fish in a Barrel

Miskatonic Repository: Dossier 1 – The Maw

Chaosium: Amidst the Ancient Trees, Gateways to Terror Overview, The Necropolis, What’s in the Cellar?, The Dead Boarder

Japonism: Do Gods Dream of Digital Drugs?

Bibliothek 13: A Cup of Horror, Erich!

The basic outline of the scenario is as such:

The investigators arrive at Abashiri prison to look into the death of a guard, meeting the prison warden and the head guard, and are given a few avenues to begin their work. At the same time, a massive blizzard brews over the prison.

Over the course of a day, the investigators meet other guards, staff, and prisoners, and begin piecing together that not everything is as it should be at the prison. Prisoners have died in large numbers, the prison doctor is drugged up to his eyeballs, and the dead guard is frozen solid despite supposedly dying in a fire. They eventually likely determine that a cabal of guards and prisoners are collaborating to kill off prisoners in some horrible way involving unnatural cold, but to what end…

When they’ve put together a basic idea of what’s happening, or otherwise by the end of the day, the head guard frames the party for the death of the warden. Finding themselves imprisoned, they have can learn more from their now-fellow prisoners. But early into the next day the order of the prison quickly unravels. The guards on patrol are halved or worse, the prisoners riled up and given keys to the cells, and the snow and wind outside so fierce and frigid one can barely last half an hour outside before toppling over.

As a prison riot breaks out, the investigators can either escape, or follow leads to the prison shrine where the cabal of prisoners and guards, lead by the head guard and a cultist inmate, conduct a ritual to bring about a god of pure cold.

How events play out through the scenario can vary wildly, as players have access to all locations and NPCs from the start. Keepers should be ready to adjust characters reactions and events on the fly. That being said, while the scenario roughly clocks in at 5-7 hours, the location is still constrained to the prison, and even if the players do something completely out of left field (as players are wont to do), the main events of the investigators’ imprisonment and prison riot can be moved around to fit most contingencies.

If playing with tighter time constraints, such as a 4-hour convention slot, the scenario could be shortened by cutting out the investigators’ imprisonment. Instead, either once they’ve started to put together an idea of what is happening, or the session is running close to the 3 hour mark, the cultists could kidnap the warden or any NPCs the players have taken a liking to. They then set off the prison riot as the storm suddenly intensifies, forcing the players to either try fleeing Abashiri, or pushing through the riot to stop the ritual.

On the other hand, if you’re wanting to expand the scenario by an hour or two, you could add an extra day before the riot, letting the players live out a day as prisoners. This gives them more time to talk with other prisoners, as well as throw in some extra tension as cultist prisoners or guards try to incite violence or separate investigators from one another. An example schedule could be:

6:30 Reveille
6:45 Inspection
7:00 Breakfast
7:30 Morning work
12:00 Lunch
12:30 Afternoon Work
18:00 Dinner
18:30 Evening Work
20:00 ‘Free’ Time
21:00 Lights out

The players deciding to flee is also a chance to greatly expand the length of the scenario. One idea not included in the scenario text is to make the escape an extended Chase. The storm itself chases the party, and instead of taking time in vaguely real-time, each turn is instead a day or more, with the final escape being reaching Honshu. A possible collection of obstacles and barriers could be:

Finding the road to Asahikawa (central Hokkaido) with a Navigate or Natural World roll
Surviving the trek with a Survival or Hard CON roll,
Dealing with other refugees on the run with a Hard Interpersonal roll
Finding a way across the Tsugaru Strait to safety of Aomori with an Extreme Credit Rating, Interpersonal, or Stealth roll to get aboard a boat.

If you decide to run it for your group, as a thank you for reading this far, you can use this link to get A Chill in Abashiri for 50% off at $2.47 on DriveThruRPG. And as always, any and all reviews are greatly appreciated.