Since January I have been releasing one short, single hour scenario per month, under the series title Flash Cthulhu. I’ve collected the first four into a ‘Season 1’ bundle, and as I’ve only done a write up for the first Flash scenario, Cafe au Morte, I’ll do a little overview of each here. *Note as of October 2024: Season 2 bundle also now available. As…
Review of the Call of Cthulhu Gaslight scenario The Phthonus Cabinet, written by John Crowdis. In-Short: An investigation-heavy scenario romping through the 1890s London dockyards with a novel Mythos threat. Spoilers-lite for Players and Keepers The Phthonus Cabinet is John Crowdis’ second scenario, following up Al-Azif Unearthed: The Unraveling (they are unrelated, separate stories). While the scenario has a similar feel to its predecessor, with…
Review of the Japanese Call of Cthulhu scenario Black Eyeball (黒い目玉), written by Uchiyama Yasujirou, from the modern-day sourcebook and scenario collection Cthulhu 2020 (クトゥルフ2020). In Short: A unique introductory scenario in the vein of the Gateways to Terror scenarios, or A Cup of Horror by the same author, but with much less emphasis on combat and more on puzzle-solving. Spoiler-lite for Players and Keepers:…
Review of the Call of Cthulhu scenario The Hoodlums, written by Alex Guillotte and Ian Christiansen, the seventh and final scenario in the Grindhouse Ultimate Collection. In Short: A short and spooky dungeon crawl-esque scenario with a fun cast of characters, both the pregenerated investigators and the NPCs, human or otherwise. Spoiler-lite for Players and Keepers: The Hoodlums is the seventh and final scenario in…
Finally made it out to Chaosium Con (third one, I think?) this year, my first ever gaming convention. Here is a very brief overview of what I ran, what I played, and what events I snuck into, as well as some general thoughts and lamentations. I’ll eventually do full reviews for at least the new games I ran. For more detailed writeups of the Con…
Review of Orpheus Station, the first scenario in Dark Space, a system-neutral collection of Lovecraftian SF horror published by Kabuki Kaiser. In-Short: An appropriately spooky romp through an abandoned space station with enough changes of pace, twists, and decisions to make for a well-paced 3–4 hour session. Spoiler-lite for Players and GMs: Dark Space is a system-agnostic scenario collection, though it works best with systems…
This an overview of my Call of Cthulhu scenario, Café au Morte. In Short: An interpersonal skill-heavy, ultra short, one location scenario. No spoilers for Players and Keepers: Café au Morte is the first scenario in a planned series I’m calling Flash Cthulhu, with the aim to release one of these a month. They are mini-scenarios meant to be run in one hour, and after…
Review of the Call of Cthulhu scenario Hell Block Five, written by Alex Guillotte and Ian Christiansen, the fifth scenario in the Grindhouse Collection. In Short: Cool premise and atmosphere, and a couple of very fun tricks to mess with the players, but so far the loosest of the Grindhouse scenarios, making for a lot of work for the Keeper. Spoiler-lite for Players and Keepers:…
Review of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventure Slaughter in Spittlefeld, written by Ben Scerri for the first Ubersreik Adventures book. In Short: Slaughter in Spittlefeld is tightly focused closed adventure that leans heavily on investigation and social interaction, but with a nice dash of horror and violence. Spoiler-Lite for Players: Slaughter in Spittlefeld has a simple opening and clear objective. The party wakes up in…
The ‘Scenariogram’ is a series of tables, Keeper aids and sheets in the Japanese Call of Cthulhu modern-day sourcebook, Cthulhu 2020. Its main use is to create the bones of a scenario using random tables, with 3 main tables and 9 subtables. The main tables are; Scenario Pattern – determining the main goal or structure of the scenario; Mystery Origin – what drives or starts…
