Alone with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition II

Until the publication of Alone Against the Flames in 2016, it was long forgotten that Chaosium, Inc. had published solo adventures for Call of Cthulhu. The two books in question—Alone Against the Wendigo and Alone Against the Dark—were both published in 1985 and although both Pagan Publishing with Alone on Halloween and Triad Entertainments with Grimrock Isle would add to the genre, all were destined to become collectors pieces. However, with the publication of Alone Against the Flames, Chaosium has not only looked at its two solo adventures anew, but updated and republished them for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Both scenarios are lengthy affairs which will take several hours to play through and both make use of the full rules for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. However, a player can play through using either the Call of Cthulhu: Keeper Rulebook or the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set.

The first of the two scenarios originally published in 1985 and now republished, is not Alone Against the Wendigo, but Alone Against the Frost: Solitaire Adventure in Canada’s Wilds. It is the same scenario in essence, but completely updated and revised to avoid cultural misuse and to better reflect the gender balance within the scenario. Now the original version provided the means for the player to roleplay a male or female investigator, but in addition to still providing this, Alone Against the Frost goes a step further by making one of the NPCs who accompanies the Investigator also female. In fact, this is Charlie Foxtail, the Tsuut’ina professional wilderness guide, who is hired to lead the expedition safely into the wilderness. Together with the three other NPCs accompanying the Investigator, this provides a balance in terms of gender for the members of the expedition.

In addition, the format of the solo investigation, so familiar from things like the Fighting Fantasy books and the Tunnels & Trolls adventures, has been adjusted to make the play through of the scenario. Thus in Alone Against the Frost, the player is still reading one paragraph, making choices and making skill and other checks before moving to another paragraph, and then doing it again and again. With most solo adventures, this involves a high degree of page flipping, often from one end of the book to the other—and back again. In the updated version of Alone Against the Frost, connected entries have been moved closer together, often on the same page, to ease the flow of play. Even if the player is given choices which lead to other pages, those choices are placed on the same page for ease of access. At the end of every entry, in addition to the numbers indicating the paragraphs the player can choose from and go to continue the story, is a number in parentheses. This indicates the previous paragraph which directed the player to the current one, enabling the player to backtrack if necessary. Alone Against the Frost is a tough, challenging, often deadly adventure, and a player will find not infrequently find himself backtracking back to a paragraph in the investigation to seek one or more other choices that do not ultimately lead to a result of ‘THE END’ and the demise of the scdenario’s protagonist. Lastly, one element which has been removed in the update is that of the Hanninah Mythos, the measure of knowledge gained in exploring the Big Woods region. It has simply been replaced by the standard Cthulhu Mythos skill.

In Alone Against the Frost, the player takes the role of Doctor L. C. Nadelmann, an anthropologist from the renowned Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts who is a rising star in the field of cultural anthropology and who has long held a fascination for early North American prehistory, myths, and legends, particularly in the Big Woods region of Canada’s Northwest Territories. At last, Doctor Nadelmann has obtained sufficient funding to mount an expedition into the fabled valley of the North Hanninah in search of the anthropological discoveries and revelations that hopefully, will make the Doctor’s good name. Accompanying Doctor Nadelmann are three gifted and practical graduate students, Bernard Ebstein, Sylvia Davidson, and Norman Falkner. They have also employed Charlie Fox to guide the expedition into the wilderness. All four of these NPCs have their own Investigator sheets and are fully detailed, whereas Doctor Nadelmann requires some customisation prior to play, the player being given two pools of points, one to assign to Occupation skills and one to assign to Personal Interest skills. During play, if the other members of the expedition are awake—or even alive, the player has the option of rolling against their skills rather than those of Doctor Nadelmann if the skill is appropriate.

Alone Against the Frost begins with the Nadelmann expedition arriving at Fort McDonald, preparing to head into North Hanninah, ‘Hanninah’ meaning ‘the river of magical power’. The expedition is warned that the local people avoid the region, including the local guides, and that further, the few white men to have entered it have never returned. Nevertheless, the expedition secures the services of a guide and sets out into the valley of the North Hanninah. Almost immediately, the Nadelmann expedition finds itself in difficult circumstances and constantly being challenged—by the environment, by the local wildlife, and of course, by the unknown. The local guide, Charlie Fox, needs near constant persuasion to remain with the expedition and as more and more dark discoveries are made and disturbing events occur, will urge the expedition to leave North Hanninah. In all likelihood, Charlie Fox will abandon Doctor Nadelmann and what surviving expedition members there are, and flee back to the safety of civilisation.

From the outset, the player will find himself and the expedition in constant danger. For example, within a few paragraphs, the choppy waters of the Hanninah cause Doctor Nadelmann to be thrown into the water and drowned. Returning to an earlier paragraph, Doctor Nadelmann successfully led the expedition into North Hanninah and set up the first night’s camp. Then the weirdness began and… Playing Alone Against the Frost—or at least playing Alone Against the Frost with any degree of success—is simply difficult. Losing Charlie Fox feels like a setback, but as Doctor Nadelmann works his way deeper into the forests of North Hanninah, he will also lose expedition member after expedition member. The effect of this is twofold. First, it takes away the player’s access to their skills, but second, their mostly horrible deaths will necessitate a Sanity loss. The latter reflects not just the terrible nature of their deaths, but also the fact that Doctor Nadelmann, and thus the player, was responsible for their care—and ultimately, their deaths.

There are a great many secrets to be discovered in North Hanninah and a large amount of Mythos lore to be learned in the process. Getting to it and the revelations to be learned will involve multiple attempts upon the part of the player as he attempts to guide Doctor Nadelmann ever deeper into danger through the maze of options and paths. Throughout, the player will also discover particular keywords, such as ‘BAREFOOT’ or ‘BACKWATER’, knowledge of which will grant Doctor Nadelmann access to particular paragraphs that would not have been available otherwise. They are also used as a measure of Doctor Nadelmann’s success, that is, if he and the remaining members of his expedition can actually make their way back to civilisation. And even though this is challenging enough, the difficulties do not stop there. Once Doctor Nadelmann has returned to civilisation, he may face questioning by the authorities, have his discoveries called into question, and more. He may even make a name for himself from those discoveries, but that is a rare outcome indeed.

In some ways, Alone Against the Frost is too challenging. A player coming to it after playing and enjoying Alone Against the Flames, will find Alone Against the Frost a daunting prospect and a grueling experience in play in comparison to the shorter, more straightforward Alone Against the Flames. If the player is prepared for that, then fine, but be in doubt, when playing Alone Against the Frost, the equivalent of the Call of Cthulhu training wheels have definitely come off. If not, then perhaps the shorter Alone Against the Tide might be a better next option after Alone Against the Flames in order to play using the full Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition rules.

Physically, Alone Against the Frost is as cleanly presented as you would expect for a title from Chaosium, Inc. Like the other solo adventure books—Alone Against the Flames, Alone Against the Dark, and the more recent Alone Against the Tide—it is done in black and white. Fortunately, this does not detract from the impact of the adventure’s often monstrous and creepy artwork, although it feels a little odd after the glorious colour and production values of other titles for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition.

Alone Against the Frost: Solitaire Adventure in Canada’s Wilds is different to other scenarios for Call of Cthulhu. Not just because it is a solo adventure, but because it places the onus for the success or failure of the Nadelmann expedition entirely upon the player (and his dice) and it makes the player responsible for the lives—and very likely, the deaths—of four other people. It also enables the player to experience a scientific expedition in true Lovecraftain fashion from beginning to end, its decisions, its discoveries, and more. Ultimately, Alone Against the Frost: Solitaire Adventure in Canada’s Wilds is an incredibly challenging solo adventure which reveals both the dread secrets of the Big Woods and the hubris of scientific inquiry in the face of Cosmic Horror.