Branches of Bone: Call of Cthulhu Viking Horror

This is an overview for my Call of Cthulhu / Cthulhu Dark Ages scenario, Branches of Bone.

Branches of Bone Overview: Call of Cthulhu Viking Age Survival Horror
This is a review for my own Cthulhu Dark Ages scenario, Branches of Bone. you can read the text version on mjrrpg.com. You can purchase Branches of Bone on DriveThruRPG, and as a thank you for listening, the link will take you to a discounted version.

Branches of Bone Trailer – A Cthulhu Dark Ages Viking Age Scenario
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In Short: A frantic one-shot of Viking Age survival horror, for players and a Keeper wanting something quick and visceral.

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 extra ideas and guidance to Keepers.

When deciding what scenario to play, either as a Keeper or as player, you should know that Branches of Bone is decidedly survival-horror, full of time pressure and physical danger. While there is investigation to be had, it is not an open-ended mystery. You will be in clear and present danger, and you will undoubtedly be forced to turn to your sword or axe when your sleuthing can’t protect you. If you hate combat in Call of Cthulhu, this scenario may not be a good fit, though Keepers could of course reinterpret or remove elements to deemphasise fighting.

If you are looking for something compact, gritty, and gross, then that is what I tried to make it for. Be a Viking, grab your axe, sail through choppy seas, and go raid a monastery. Everything will certainly go according to plan, but if doesn’t, maybe you’ll need to use that investigator brain of yours as well as your sword arm.

The scenario comes with six pregenerated investigators to choose from, handouts, maps, and some extra guides for the Keeper. There are also a few additional rules and extra content that could be used to create your own Viking investigators or your own Viking adventures. If your group makes it off the island of Skógrbein, they’ll no doubt have some unique experiences that could branch into future scenarios.

As a little thank you for poking through my site, you can use this link to grab Branches of Bone for a discounted $3.95. If you enjoy it, I’d very much appreciate your review on DTRPG as well.

If you’re a player, stop here 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 party sails to the island and makes their way to the monastery. They explore a bit inside, meeting the monks (living and dead), then likely head down into the crypt to find the other Vikings, including their Chieftain, Askr, bound in some sort of ritual.

Things go weird, the doors and windows slam shut, and something starts sapping their POW, boosting their Cthulhu Mythos skill, and giving them visions. They then have time to explore the monastery, finding clues to help them escape, all while being hit by the POW drain, which also starts causing them to grow bark-like scabs.

While they’re still figuring out what’s going on and how to escape, the monastery is overgrown by branches, and creatures of bark and branches attack. With the POW drain continuing and branches starting to poke out of their own flesh, the investigators are forced to try some way of escape.

If they do escape, the monastery crumbles and a massive tree-like creature, the Bone-Tree, breaks free, possible weakened or dying. But not dead yet. It chases the investigators across the island back to the boat, then out to the sea before perishing or vanishing beneath the waves.

There are of course variations, and the players will do what players do, but this is a very narrow scenario in both location and time constraints. The party is stuck inside a crumbling church, and they are slowly turning into tree-people. There are a handful of ways out, with plenty of clues for the Keeper to handout in varying degrees depending on how obvious they want to make it.

Here are a few extra points I found through the playtests that aren’t directly spelled out in the scenario text:

If none of the players use the Steersman pregen, or if none of them have the Pilot (Boat) skill at about thirty or so, it might be a good idea to include the Steersman as an NPC. Otherwise, the group will likely suffer some damage just rowing into the island without being able to do much about it. And if you use the end chase scene (which I highly recommend, more on that later) the party will be absolutely destroyed if they don’t have a competent pilot.

The ‘translating’ Vikings should begin speaking quickly, and make a point of emphasising the different languages they are speaking. The party should recognise one is speaking Old English, as its the same language the monks speak, and potentially Celtic as well, if they heard Immin on the bluff. In two of my playthroughs the players did not figure out how to use the translators, and therefore missed out on some fun roleplaying and extra clues.

Have Askr slightly react to his child, and maybe hint at, or straight up ask, for an interpersonal roll from the child player. In none of my playthroughs did the party manage to snap Askr out of his funk (outside of stabbing him to death), though that was largely my fault for not asking for a roll or hinting it would even be possible. This would be a great opportunity for some roleplaying and humanising Askr a touch.

Succumbing to the Living Wood (POW drain) is more interesting than simply dying. Most of the creatures prefer to grab and infect the investigators, but for those that do attack, focus physical attacks on the Berserker and Chieftain’s Child investigators, if in play. The Berserker has the highest hitpoints and can deal out the most damage, while the Chieftain’s Child has the heaviest armour. The Volur, if in play, has the lowest hitpoints, the weakest armour, and worst combat skills, and could be taken out by a lucky swing, but they have the highest POW, making them the most resilient to the Living Wood.

If the group tries to escape using fire, the Volur will need all his hitpoints to survive asphyxiation. The one group that tried this hid in the stairs to the crypt since it was lower down, and so should be free from smoke. I hadn’t though of that, and as the Volur was nearing death and it was a good idea, I went along with it. Then Askr and his treemen Vikings started coming up the stairs…

The chase is of course entirely optional, but the two times it came up in my playtests, the groups really enjoyed them. I highly recommend doing it, and included a chase counter and extra explanation to hopefully make it as smooth as possible. Of course, reading over the Chase section in the Keeper’s Rulebook would also be best. Once running the chase though, try to keep it as fast as possible, quickly cycling through the DEX order, even to the point of putting a few seconds time limit on players to make their decisions.

For the chase, the Bone-Tree is much faster, almost always getting 3 movement actions, and its high characteristics allow it to bash through hazards and barriers without much issue. I suggest either just giving it 2 movement points by default, or always use extra movements for bonus dice when going through barriers and hazards, even though it doesn’t need them. This gives the investigators a chance to get a bit ahead, giving you more control of the pacing, and if the investigators get too far ahead the Bone-Tree could rush forward without using any actions for bonus dice.

If your group has extra time, or wants to stretch out into two sessions, one idea could be to add an extra scene at the beginning to introduce Askr and the NPC Vikings. This could be back at the village in Denmark, or on the voyage across the North Sea to Britain.

As an example scene:

Askr and your group’s clansmen likely had to travel aboard the longship of a different clan, not having their own or the crew to man one, themselves. The other clansmen taunt Askr and the players, needling them on their poverty and lack of longship, hinting at Askr’s failed raid that sank the ship and lost a dozen raiders. The fellow NPC clansmen bristle, but Askr urges calm. Target the players, try to get a rise out of them. Make things tense, lots of Intimidation rolls, even directed at the investigators, forcing penalty dice.

If the players don’t take the bait, eventually the fellow NPC clansmen start to brawl. If the melee threatens to turn deadly, or when the much more numerous rival clan comes close to victory, the ship is suddnely rocked by a massive swell. A huge sea creature (no doubt a whale, but do the Vikings know that?) rises beneath the ship, lifting it in the air.

The Vikings freeze in terror, but the creature submerges, settling the ship. In the silence, if none of the players say anything similar, Askr murmurs that Freya has need of him, and not for these petty human squabbles. Quelled, the rival Vikings shun the party for the rest of the voyage, stealing glances at Askr when he mutters and writhes in his sleep.

As a thank you for reading this far, you can use this link to grab Branches of Bone for 50% off at $2.47 on DriveThruRPG. And I would always greatly appreciate any reviews on the DriveThruRPG page, it really helps a lot!