Xanthophobia

Call of Cthulhu is big in Japan. Bigger than Dungeons & Dragons and the Japanese devotees of Call of Cthulhu have their official campaign from Chaosium, Inc., that enables them and devotees around the world to explore a significant period in recent Japanese history. In doing so, they find a country at the height of its economic dominance at the end of the electronic era, unknowingly threatened by insidious memetic virus that finds vectors in prayer books and manga and dreams, mapping on its pattern onto the psyches of its victims who then will seek to spread it wider. It wraps itself around faith and culture and hope, but is utterly alien. That threat is the King in Yellow, drawn from the short story collection by R.C. Chambers, The King in Yellow, and re-interpreted for the ‘Bubble Economy’ period in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising as the Prince of Pale Leaves. This is not the first time that Call of Cthulhu and Chaosium, Inc. have visited Japan, the supplement, Secrets of Japan being published in 2005. In more recent years, the Miskatonic Repository has become an outlet for titles written by Japanese authors, such as Japonism 2024. Similarly, it is two decades since Chaosium, Inc. explored Hastur and the mythos of the King in Yellow with the campaign, Tatters of the King, published in 2006.

The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising: Encountering the King in Yellow in 1980s Japan is a published by Chaosium, Inc. for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition and notable for a number of factors. One is that it is a modular campaign, that can be expanded with The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Carcosa Manifest], simply ran as is, or run as sperate, standalone scenarios. The second is that the scenario is co-written by residents of Japan, including the Sons of Singularity—responsible for The Sassoon Files: A Sourcebook for the Call of Cthulhu and GUMSHOE Role Playing Games and Journal d’Indochine—and Chaosium, Inc. Which gives it an authenticity and a strong sense of place. Third, almost like a meme itself, the scenarios in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising can be played over and over again, as the players and their (new?) Investigators search for an alternate ending. Of course, the Prince of Pale Leaves can twist and change and learn, so that what might have worked in a previous playthrough (alternate timeline?) is not guaranteed to work in the current one.

What The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is not, is a sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu in Japan in the late eighties. It does contain a glossary of terms in the appendix and it does contain source material and useful they are too. The source material covers Japan and its work-orientated culture during the period, examines the life of the working adult and the student, the divide between the generations and its consequences, organised crime, transportation, and more. That more focuses on the technology available, noting that personal computers and pagers are widely available, the Internet has yet to appear, mobile phones are rare, and weapons even rarer! So, no firearms, and despite what some might think, no swords—and definitely no Ninja! The downside to The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising not being a sourcebook book for Call of Cthulhu in Japan in the late eighties is that there is little in the way of advice for creating Investigators for the period. Even then, it only extends as far as telling the Keeper that Investigator should be able to speak Japanese and players to avoid the discriminatory cultural biases endemic to the period, though that was beginning to change. This leaves the Keeper and her players to be inventive should they want to create their own Investigators or have to create replacements in the event of Investigator death. That said, several pre-generated Investigators are provided and they represent a good mix of Japanese and non-Japanese characters.

There are two notable additions in terms of the mechanics specific to the campaign. The first is Exposure Points gained through exposure to the Sutra of Pale Leaves, whether through glancing at it, reading it, hearing it being read, and so on. As they are gained—whether by an Investigator or NPC—those exposed begin to fixate on Sutra of Pale Leaves, suffer dreams and altered perception, gain creative inspiration, and even begin to see the Prince of Pale Leaves. These are the very least of the effects of continued exposure, whilst The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising suggests that Sanity loss and severe orders suffered are ‘side effects’. Surprisingly, being exposed can have its rewards such as unexplained luck and being immune to Sanity loss, though these come at the cost of more Exposure Points. All this reflects the effects of the memetic virus rewriting the code in the sufferer’s brain. Exposure Points are kept secret from the players and count up in contrast to Sanity points counting down. The second addition is more distinctly defined and numbered ‘Endings’. Running from ‘0: Party Wipe (Failure)’ and up, these categorise player success in a scenario and are a common feature of scenarios in Japan where they enable players to simply communicate how well they did in a scenario. Strangely, this number gives a scenario what are effectively ‘winning conditions’, which is at odds with almost any description of how roleplaying works. However, they explicitly support the replay value of the scenarios and campaign since having achieved an Ending and a value in one playthrough, the players can playthrough the scenario with the aim of achieving a different Ending and ideally a higher value.

In addition to being different in how it spreads its influence, the ‘Mythos’ threat and its associated cult are also different in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising. The cult—the Association of Pale Leaves—is mad and dangerous, but it is not murderous. In other words, no sacrifices before altars at the dead of night at propitious times of the year. It can resort to violence when protecting its interests and its assets, but in the main, what it wants to do is proselytise. To that end, the Sutra of Pale Leaves and its different versions play a bigger role in the campaign than the cult itself, and although the cult is detailed, the focus of the scenarios in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is not on the cult itself, but rather on the twistings of the memetic transmission of its master’s message. This also means that there is no real beginning, no real ending to The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising—and that feels wholly appropriate, even though some players may be disappointed.

Similarly, the Prince of Pale Leaves is surprisingly human in its form and face even if it is alien. It is also calm, calculating, and confident, never angry, never Machiavellian, but it is manipulative and several of the scenarios revolve around the Prince of Pale Leaves’ manipulation of the Investigators. In other words, it has none of the sardonic and manipulative qualities of Nyarlathotep, and so perhaps requires much more subtle roleplaying upon the part of the Keeper.

Narratively, the campaign adds ‘Confidants’. These are inspired by Jackson Elias of Masks of Nyarlathotep [https://rlyehreviews.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-greatest-roleplaying-campaign-ever.html] fame and are designed to serve as hooks, facilitating the involvement of the Investigators in the plots. Several are given, both general and scenario-specific, but the main one is a special agent of the Public Security Intelligence Agency, the equivalent of Japan’s FBI, but the others include a Buddhist monk and abbot, and heiress-turned anti-occult crusader. Their use is not mandatory, but they will flavour and influence how the Investigators are introduced to each scenario and potentially grant them access to various resources. For the players, the campaign includes Lore Sheets which provide them with information about Japan and its culture that their Investigators would ordinarily know.

The trilogy of scenarios in The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising opens with ‘Dream Eater’. The Investigators are asked to look into an outbreak of insomnia in the historic town of Ikaruga. Sufferers also report having been tormented by a six-legged, purple tapir-like beast in their dreams when they do sleep. The incidences seem have started in a particular district of the town, significant only for a recent road accident in which an old man accidentally knocked down and killed a young girl. The old man is a master of traditional Japanese calligraphy. Interviewing him reveals that he is still remorseful, but is not affected by the sleeplessness affecting the rest of the town because a monk gave him a book of scripture to recite from. This is, of course, the Sutra of Pale Leaves, and will be the Investigators’ first exposure to it… What is interesting here is that the Investigators are inadvertently investigating two things at once, both cause and solution, and likewise working for two opposing masters without realising it. This is a scenario where the Investigators are going to be presented with a lot of information fairly quickly and the challenge is what to do with information rather than finding it out. There are hints and intimations throughout that not all is as straightforward as the situation at first might seem and both players and their Investigators need to be on their toes to realise this.

The second scenario, ‘Fanfic!’ explores the world of amateur manga artists and creators as the Investigators are asked to look into a new horror title that has become a much in demand underground hit amongst its ardently devoted teenage fans—and could be propaganda for a cult! Helped by a reserved young manga creator, the Investigators attend a Manga Market to try and find the creator of the subversive comic book. Again, there is the element of misdirection in dealing with a threat that is very much a danger, but not the whole threat. The danger here is that the misdirection actually works and the Investigators fail to realise quite what the other threat is. More than the other two scenarios in the book, ‘Fanfic!’ deserves repeat play to get beyond that misdirection, identify the other threat, and confront it atop a Tokyo landmark. This is an interesting exploration of a Japanese subculture that plays on the nature of viruses and gives it a sharp twist in applying it to the concept of memes.

The third and final scenario is the shortest. ‘The Pallid Masks of Tokyo’ begins with the discovery in an alley of a corpse with no face, or rather no facial features. The body, almost marked with deep and regular scars, is that of a Yakuza foot soldier and his boss will tell the investigators is that the dead man had been associating with a lieutenant called ‘Crazy Kazu’, who had gone rogue after spending time in the Secure Unit of the Tokyo Metropolitan Psychiatric Hospital. The latter is the focus of the latter half of the scenario and is a fittingly creepy location made all the more so by the influence of the Prince of Pale Leaves. Any investigation of Crazy Kazu will lead there and the Investigators might even receive an invitation to visit at night. Here they will find ‘Chateau Carcosa’, the Prince of Pale Leaves’ strongest manifestation on Earth. It brings a weird scenario to surprisingly direct conclusion, but not to the ongoing threat of the Prince of Pale Leaves and Sutra of Pale Leaves.

Physically, The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is very well presented and written. The artwork ranges from the ukiyo-e style of the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries to modern manga and much in between.

What The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising is not, is a campaign in the traditional sense for Call of Cthulhu. It is instead a framework that sets up a different interpretation of the King in Yellow mythos and showcases how that interpretation can be presented in three different scenarios and three different aspects of Japanese culture. And then further expanded with the companion volume, The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Carcosa Manifest. Unreal and uncanny, The Sutra of Pale Leaves – Twin Suns Rising: Encountering the King in Yellow in 1980s Japan is superb introduction to an unearthly devious threat whose full range of manifestations and vectors yet remain to be fully revealed and explored.

A Gaggle of Genres

One of the problems with generic roleplaying games is trying to work out quite what you can with them. The obvious answer is anything and everything, and whilst this is true, that might not be enough of an answer. Advice and tools which will help a Game Master do that anything and everything will always be useful. And whether it is GURPS, the HERO System, or Savage Worlds, there are a lot of supplements which address particular genres and settings. The Cypher System from Monte Cook Games is no exception. The Cypher System was introduced in 2013 with Numenera, the award-winning Science Fantasy roleplaying game of exploration and adventure in the very far future, which introduced new ideas in terms of roleplaying, such as player-facing mechanics and Game Master Intrusions, a new way of narratively increasing tension and awarding Experience Points. It also offered numerous options in terms of Player Characters, expressed in a way that clearly described what each did and which was also exciting. Since it first appeared, it has gone on to cover numerous different genres and even be used as the rules for roleplaying games based on a podcast or two. For example, High Noon at Midnight explores the Wild West, Neon Rain explores the Cyberpunk genre, and Stay Alive! dives into the horror genre. And this in addition to specific settings within these genres.

Expanded Worlds provides numerous options for Player Characters, an introduction to numerous genres, and a range of monsters, creatures, and NPCs that work with the previously explored genres. For Player Characters, there is a selection of new Descriptors and Foci. These fit the Cypher System’s means of defining a Player Character with the statement, “I am an adjective noun who verbs.” The noun is the Player Character’s Type, the adjective is a Descriptor which describes the character, and the verb is the Focus, or what the character does. For example, using the new Descriptors and Foci in Expanded Worlds enables player to create characters such as “I am a Meddlesome Adept who Changes Shape”, “I am Lawful Warrior who Collects Bounties”, “I am an Earnest Speaker who Governs”, and “I am a Chaotic Explorer who Drives Like a Maniac”. Several have extra details. For example, ‘Fell Through A Rabbit Hole’ has a ‘Nonsense’ table rolled on to create a random effect drawn from the surreal realm the character is connected to, such as ‘Unexpected Trapdoor’ or ‘Because I Said So’, that the player can then choose spend Intellect points to use. The Foci are a mix of the generic and the genre-specific. For example, ‘Descends from Nobility’, ‘Explores’, and ‘Figures Things Out’ veer towards the generic, useable in any setting, whilst ‘Hacks the Network’, ‘Is Haunted by Moths’, ‘Keeps a Magical Ally’, ‘Resides in Silicon’, and ‘Sailed Beneath the Jolly Roger’ have stronger or more specific requirement in terms of their setting and genre. The supplement does list the Foci by suggested genre. Nevertheless, there are a lot of Foci here and it is easy to go through them and package them into genres and settings of the Game Master’s own design.

Expanded Worlds explores seven genres across two chapters. The Fantastical Genres consist of ‘Post Apocalyptic’, ‘Mythological’, ‘Fairy Tale’, and ‘Childhood Adventure’, whilst the Gritty Genres consist of ‘Historical’, ‘Crime and Espionage’, and ‘Hard Science Fiction’. In each case, there is an overview of the genre, which includes suggestions as to what the players and Game Master might like to read or what, guidance on both creating and running the genre, followed by technical details that list threats, character types, Foci, and creatures all appropriate to the genre. Extras then add details specific to the genre. For the Post Apocalyptic genre this is a guide to scavenging, tables of junk and useful stuff, suggested artefacts like Enviroscanner and the Military Exoskeleton, and two Racial Descriptors in the form of the Morlock and Roach. For the Fairy Tale genre, it discusses the nature of Fairie, adds ‘Fairy Tale Wonders’ and ‘Fairy Artifact Quirk’ tables, and the Changeling Racial Descriptor. Notably, the ‘Childhood Adventure’ chapter gives an optional rule for playing young characters in the Cypher System without resorting to the Young Descriptor and so retaining flexibility in terms of options for the Player Characters. Of the four entries in the Fantastical Genres section, the ‘Mythological’ chapter feels just a bit too small, just not capable of handling its big subject. The inclusion of the Spear of Fate, Sword of Death, and Thunderbolt and Hellborn and Giant Racial Descriptors just hint at the possibility of the genre and really do leave the reader wanting more.

If the ‘Mythological’ chapter feels all too small for its subject matter, then too many of the entries in the ‘Gritty Genres’ section are all broad for what they are trying to cover. The ‘Historical’ genre chapter races through thousands of years of history in three pages and just cannot do it justice. The thumbnail descriptions of the different periods are just enough to intrigue the reader, but without helping in terms of what to read next or how to set adventures there. There is mention of some books, but simply not enough. Oddly, the ‘Crime and Espionage’ chapter works in one way, but not another, the problem being that it encompasses two different genres in one. What this means is that whilst all of the technical details—suggested character types, Foci, creatures and NPCs, and items—work with both genres, the advice does not as it means it is just too broad. Fortunately, the ‘Hard Science Fiction’ chapter more than makes up for deficiencies of the previous two chapters. Whether covering the effects of gravity on combat, survival in the vacuum of space, the unlikelihood of the Player Characters having their own spaceship, and so on, the advice here is to the point and useful.

For the Game Master, there is a selection of creatures and NPCs. Many of the creatures will work across more than one of the genres detailed in Expanded Worlds. For example, the Bogeyman and the Fairy can be used in the Fairy Tale and Childhood Adventure genres. Some genres are better supported than others. The ‘Mythological’ genre is particularly well supported with the Cambion, Cerberus, Hydra, Minotaur, Satyr, and Typhon, and similarly, the ‘Post Apocalyptic’ genre is solidly supported with the Abomination, Devolved, Fusion Hound, Gamma Worm, Glowing Roach, and Mad Creation. There are oddities though, such as the Killer Clown and the Night Gaunt, which seem to have wandered in from other genres. The most entertaining entries are the Erlking, an animated morass of woodland debris which loves to hunt and eat children, a former fairy noble stripped of his title and lands and exiled into the plant body, and the Shoe Thief, which hides under the bed and in other dark places in the home stealing single shoes and socks, pens and paperclips, gathering in groups and building up the courage to steal books, pets, and your little brother! The NPC descriptions are drier in comparison, serviceable and functional rather than inspiring.

Physically, Expanded Worlds is decently written and well written. The illustrations are excellent.

Expanded Worlds is hit and miss in terms of its content. Some of its genre write-ups are woefully underwritten because conceptually, there is too much to write about and not enough space to do it in, meaning that the book cannot do them justice. Indeed, it would take whole supplements the size of Expanded Worlds to do any one of its genres proper justice—and it has. Yet at their best, some of the write-ups do work as solid introductions to their respective genres and as introductions they are given good support in terms of playable, useful content. In that, the Fantastical Genres are better treated than the Gritty Genres, and both are given solid support by the Foci and Descriptors. Expanded Worlds is a good, but not perfect introduction to a variety of genres for the Cypher System.

Friday Fantasy: The Cursed Farm

It is midsummer, and Hrafn Reginsson, the local goði, asks the Player Characters for help. He asks them to visit the farm of a distant neighbour, Björg Finnsdóttir, who unexpectedly and uncharacteristically, has requested his help. He fears that the situation must be fraught if she is asking for his help. When the Player Characters arrive, it appears that the goði’s fears are well placed. Björg Finnsdóttir’s farm has clearly fallen into a state of disrepair and disarray. The kale patch has overgrown and seems to rustle strangely; the barley field has been trampled and its soil churned up by several cows that aggressively rove its extent; and then there is Björg Finnsdóttir’s pride and joy, a grove of red currant berry shrubs that made the farm famous for miles around, now reduced to burned and shattered stumps. Björg Finnsdóttir herself—and her family, which includes two farmhands, are tired and drawn, clearly deeply concerned at their plight and that of the farm. This is the situation that the Player Characters find in The Cursed Farm.

The Cursed Farm is a scenario for Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game, the low fantasy, deeply historical game published by Chaosium, Inc. and designed to help tell stories of home, hearth, and honour, myth and magic, and bring new sagas to life. Subtitled ‘An Introductory Scenario for the Age of Vikings Roleplaying Game’, it is designed as a first scenario be played for the roleplaying game and in many cases it has been. That said, it is not designed as a quick-start. In other words, it does not come with the rules necessary to play it, although links are provided so that the Game Master has a set of ready-to-play Player Characters. Instead, The Cursed Farm works as a demonstration scenario. It not only tells a tale of how dark Viking magic can come to affect the innocent, of past lives, and misplaced ambitions, but involves a classic Norse monster too! Further, it can be run in a single session. This means that is very easy add to a campaign, to be run as a showcase for the Game Master’s own group, or run as a demonstration scenario at a convention. In the case of the latter two options, this includes teaching the rules to the players. The rules themselves are not difficult to learn and anyone with experience of Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine will pick them up with ease.

The family will quickly reveal what they know and the Player Characters are free to examine the farm and its current state, and will very likely discover that as the title of the scenario states, that it is cursed. The Second Sight skill is important here and a mixture of interaction and perception skills will play a major part in determining what is happening at the farm. The likelihood is that the Player Characters will quickly track down the source of the curse and deal directly with it. This can result in combat, and in particular, there is a chance for a warrior and his honour to shine, and even ultimately benefit. Combat is not the only solution though, and the source is willing to communicate and wait. That said, the Game Master is given an optional combat encounter if the Player Characters have avoided combat so far or if she wants to add another combat encounter. Ultimately, resolving the situation in The Cursed Farm relies upon interaction and perception. To that end though, the NPCs are simply drawn and the Game Master will need to strengthen their individual characters in her portrayal of them. This is due more to the limited page rather than any other reason.

Physically, The Cursed Farm is solidly presented. It is well written, easy to understand, and quick to prepare, and the artwork is good. The cartography, done in colour and black and white, with versions for both the players and the Game Masters, is clear and easy to read.

The Cursed Farm is good little scenario for Age of Vikings: The Roleplaying Game. It is straightforward and easy to prepare, whether to add to a campaign or run as a demonstration, and gives a good flavour of Icelandic horror and mystery.

[DCC Day #7] DCC Day 2026 Adventure Pack

As well as contributing to Free RPG Day every year Goodman Games also has its own ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day’. The day is notable not only for the events and the range of adventures being played for Goodman Games’ roleplaying games, but also for the scenarios it releases specifically to be played on the day. For ‘Dungeon Crawl Classics Day 2026’, which took place today on Saturday, July 18th, 2026, the publisher is releasing not one, not two, but three scenarios, plus a limited edition printing of Dungeon Crawl Classics #112: Mother of M0nsters. Two of the scenarios, ‘The Temple of Fluttering Terror’ and ‘The Crawl is Not Always Greener’, appear in the duology, the DCC Day 2026 Adventure Pack. ‘The Temple of Fluttering Terror’ is written for Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, the spiritual successor to Gamma World, ‘The Crawl is Not Always Greener’ is for use with Xcrawl Classics Roleplaying Game, which combines Dungeons & Dragons and World Wrestling Entertainment, turns it into a blood sport, televises it, and throws in celebrity culture in an alternate dystopia shot through with a knowing black humour. Lastly, both Dungeon Crawl Classics #112: Mother of M0nsters and DCC Day #7: Pestilence at the Peak of Law are written for use with Dungeon Crawl Classics.

—oOo—

As in past years, the DCC Day 2026 Adventure Pack contains two adventures. The first and longest of the two is ‘The Temple of Fluttering Terror’ are written for use with Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game – Triumph & Technology Won by Mutants & Magic, the spiritual successor to Gamma World. It is designed for a party of three to six Player Characters of First Level and begins with them in the jungle on the back of a fast-flowing river on the other wise of which is an island with some pre-disaster ruins on it.

The Player Characters—or Seekers—have been sent by their respective tribes to rescue a much-fabled artefact, called AESOP, from the ruins. AESOP is rumoured to be a learning device from before the disaster used to teach children. If it can be brought back, it will be a great asset to the confederation of local villages. Unfortunately, the weather has taken a turn for the worse and a series of storms has led to widespread flooding and the rising waters threaten the buildings in which AESOP is located. Thus, the Seekers have to survive the environment and the weather, explore the buildings, find AESOP, and then haul it back! The dangers of the floods are represented by a ‘Deluge Effects’ table which is triggered when a natural roll of one or twenty is rolled. The waters can swell and surge, the winds rise, wildlife flee, and more, plus some effects also increase the die size by a step for subsequent rolls. Which means that as the scenario progresses, the effects of the storm get worse and worse. Then if a Seeker gets caught in the waters, then is a ‘Fighting the Flood Waters’ table to be rolled on, the greater the strength of the Seeker, the less likely he will be swept away.

The ruins on the island are those of Pennsville Learning Academy, so the Seekers are exploring the ruins of an ancient school. As you would expect, there are classrooms dedicated to different subjects, including history, science, and art, a cafeteria, and so on. Each location contains a mix of things to experience and lots of things to loot. For example, in the history classroom, the Experio5400 is a teaching device that beams a holographic, immersive experience straight into the eyes of nearby pupils. One experience is given, but the Judge can be inventive here too, adding her own historical scenes, whether from actual history or the history between now and the events of the disaster that led to Terra AD. However, it is loot where the author gets to be inventive. Items to be looted include a Cheat Lens that when worn provides answers to written questions; a chemical cabinet in the science classroom full of ingredients to be mixed for various effects; school lockers containing things such as a Jet Board, a Dysfunctional Robotic Playmate, Acks Body Spray (incites attacks from nearby feral creatures!), and more.

Finally, there is AESOP itself. It is a A.I. with a pleasing personality—though for entertainment value, the Judge could readily change it—that the Seekers can talks to and ask questions of. The Judge has a list of questions and answers to facilitate any interaction. AESOP is easy to find, but rather than challenging to deal with, it is challenging to move! The seekers must find a way of transporting it out of the ruins, across the island, and then over the river with its raging waters. ‘The Temple of Fluttering Terror’ is a good mix of exploration and combat, twisting a familiar location and making it a dangerous and rewarding in equal measure, before escalating the danger with the weather. The result is an excellent, entertaining scenario for the Mutant Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game.

The second scenario is ‘The Crawl is Not Always Greener’, which is designed for the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game and for party of four to six Player Characters of First Level. Their Agent informs them that they have been invited to participate in a new gig—an Xcrawl designed by a first-time Dungeon Judge. Not just any first-time Dungeon Judge, but Tiger Silva, the world’s most famous and accomplished pro-golfer, who wants to try his hand at a different sport. Apart from the fact that it being organised by one of the most famous sportsmen in the North American Empire, it is meant to be a low-key affair. It is a chance for the Player Characters to pick up some new sponsors, look good in a celebrity-driven event, and perhaps move into the orbit of the rich and famous by association.

As you would expect, this Xcrawl is entirely Golf-themed and that starts with the sponsorships on offer, which include the Ultra Whack Golf Clubs and Golfing Gear and Super Aid Sports Drinks. It continues with the individual locations in the Xcrawl, a giant miniature putt-putt golf course, which include woad-painted Goblin Picts which attack to the sound of bad bagpipes being played (and unfortunately the bagpipe-player is a non-combatant, so cannot be attacked and the Player Characters will need to find another way to stop the playing) reflecting Golf’s Scottish origins; a giant sand trap and a even bigger windmill with deadly spinning blades; and a battle with a giant gopher! All of which is confronted whilst attempting to whack a giant Golf ball through the dungeon and into the cup at the end of each room. Being a dungeon for the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game, the adventure is straightforward and linear, that feel exacerbated by the need to drive the giant Golf ball from one end of the dungeon to the other, room by room. However, it is ever so tongue-in-cheek and fits with the absurdity of the world of Xcrawl.

The absurdity of setting and the scenario are made all the more so by the satirical elements worked into it. These dig at the theme of Golf and at the contemporary politics surrounding Golf. These are likely to amuse or irritate in equal measure, but given the theme, it is no surprise they are included. ‘The Crawl is Not Always Greener’ is a silly, but fun adventure and there are notes too if the Judge wants to add it to her campaign.

Physically, the DCC Day 2026 Adventure Pack is as well done as you would expect for a release from Goodman Games. The artwork is decent, but a little cartoonish in places—which actually suits the Xcrawl Classics Role-Playing Game.

The DCC Day 2026 Adventure Pack delivers two good scenarios for two different games, but of the two, ‘The Temple of Fluttering Terror’ is the most inventive and interesting, but ‘The Crawl is Not Always Greener’ is sillier and more immediately entertaining. Both are fun to play and both are easy to add to a campaign as they are to run as one-shots.

Rotten Labour Relations

Downright Nasty is a scenario for the PunkApocalyptic: the Roleplaying Game, set in a terrible future dominated by vicious gangs, dangerous mutants, and predatory monsters spawned by the strange chemicals and radiation released in the days that followed the Time Before The Shit Hit. This is a post-apocalyptic setting with an adult tone, both grimy and grim, if not a little unhinged. Or a lot unhinged. As Mercs, the Player Characters take the jobs that most settlements want to avoid being associated with, whether that is because of bravery or pragmatism, and once out in the Wastelands, they face strange creatures, gangers and cannibals, plus an environment which just as likely turn on them or mutate them even more. PunkApocalyptic: the Roleplaying Game is based on Shadow of the Demon Lord and like the other roleplaying games based on its mechanics, Player Characters progress from Level One to Level Ten, their progress divided between three Paths—Novice, Expert, and Master, gaining greater ability, skill, and specialisation. A Novice Path begins at Level One, an Expert path at Level Three, and a Master Path at Level Seven. Adventures for PunkApocalyptic: the Roleplaying Game are tailored to these three Paths. Downright Nasty is a mission for Novice Mercs and sends them into the Lower Septic to restore some order.

Downright Nasty is essentially about dispute in a wasteland settlement. Vaguely east of Scrapbridge and south of Liberty City is Septic Town, a settlement which has got rich fishing for and selling megatroutasses, the large trout-like fish studded with fleshy protuberances that look like bare arses, that tastes surprisingly good. Well, some of those that live in the town, those that live in Upper Septic Town, an old bridge, have made plenty of money selling the fish across the Wasteland and have attitudes to match. The rest live in Lower Septic Tank, in ramshackle buildings stacked on a series of floating platforms connected by rope and wood walkways on the foul and stinkingly green waters that they also fish. With minimal pay and some healthcare, the conditions are deplorable, but of late, they have got worse. People have gone missing, the megatroutasses are refusing to bite, and the numbers of leechcrabs has risen becoming an increasing threat. So, the Low Tankers have organised and are demanding both better pay and some protections, which is really annoying the Upper Tankers. In response, the Upper Tankers have hired the Mercs to descend into Lower Septic Tank and restore order before the mobs start demanding mob rule or something.

Of course, there is more to the story than militant mutants in the Lower Septic Tank. It turns out that the Lower Tankers are victims in the three ways. First by the oppression of the Upper Tankers; second at the hands a rogue medical doctor, Doctor Dare; and third, at the claws of a very scary monster called The Grim. The Mercs can begin play in Lower Septic Tank, or the Game Master can run a scene getting to Septic Town and negotiating terms for their employment. The scenario can be run after ‘Two Dead in Shit Town’ found in the PunkApocalyptic: the Roleplaying Game core rulebook, but it is not a direct sequel. The players and their Mercs are free to approach the scenario however they want, but whilst beating up the Lower Tankers will likely win the Upper tankers favour, it will not really solve the problem. Talking though will, gaining the Mercs some leads, and ultimately the location of the two threats currently preying on the Lower Tankers. The investigation is straightforward, mostly involving talking to an oddball cast of characters, before a couple of nasty showdowns with the villains of the piece.

Physically, Downright Nasty is several pages of text. There is an illustration of The Grim and a ‘Local Colour’ table to add some flavour, but otherwise, the scenario is dense. One thing that it does lack is a map and given that the scenario is a monster hunt, a map of Lower Septic Town and its surrounds would have been useful. (There is one here though.)

Downright Nasty can be played through in a single session or two and has a distinctly grubby, greasy feel to it from start to finish, and honestly, even if the Mercs are successful, sort out the problems besetting the Lower Tankers, and get paid, the sad news is that the lives of the Lower Tankers are not going to get better. After all, the Upper Tankers like it that way and whilst there is nothing to stop the Game Master from adapting its plot to the post-apocalyptic roleplaying game setting of her choice, it fits the grim and grimy nature of the world of PunkApocalyptic: the Roleplaying Game.

Miskatonic Monday #445: After The Flood

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. 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: After the Flood

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Keith Craig

Setting: Nebraska, USA, 2019

Product: Scenario

What You Get: thirty-one page, 3.34 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “A mycelial network is a map of a fungus’ recent history and is a helpful reminder that all life-forms are in fact processes not things.” – Merlin Sheldrake

Plot Hook: The calm after the flood
Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, eight handouts, six NPCs, six maps and floorplans, and five Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Serviceable

Pros

# Suitably flat-feeling investigation across post-flood farmland

# Infectious horror that flirts with Ufology

# Classic Mythos-style Men-in-Black confrontation

# Makes use of the Malleus Monstrorum (notes included)

# Would work easily with with Delta Green: The Role-Playing Game

# Entomophobia

# Mycophobia

# Mysophobia

Cons

# Needs an edit
# Underwritten pre-generated Investigators

# Makes use of the Malleus Monstrorum (notes included)

Conclusion

# What fear blooms in a washed out, washed away horror?

# Classic Mythos-style Men-in-Black confrontation

# Reviews from R’lyeh Recommends 

City in the RED

Almost all of the famous cities in roleplaying are fantasy cities. Waterdeep, the ‘City of Splendours’ from the Forgotten Realms, and Sigil, the City of Doors from Planescape, both for Dungeons & Dragons from Wizards of the Coast; Freeport: The City of Adventure from Green Ronin Publishing; and Pavis in Glorantha for RuneQuest from Chaosium, Inc. Conversely, famous cities in roleplaying in the Science Fiction genre are few and far between. Both come from the Cyberpunk genre. One, of course, is the real world city of Seattle in the Sixth World of Shadowrun, whilst the other is the fictional Night City of Cyberpunk 2013, Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0., and Cyberpunk RED. Night City began life as Coronado City, incorporated in the early nineties and envisioned as a planned urban community by Richard Night on the coast of northern California. After his murder, it was renamed in his honour, but crime moved in and the city was dominated by mob wars for a decade, before corporate interests disrupted the activities of the various criminal organisations. Night City became notorious as a battleground between Militech and Arasaka during the Fourth Corporate War, which came to a head with the detonation of nuclear device atop Arasaka’s Night City headquarters which devastated the city’s Corporate Centre, allegedly placed by the famous Rockerboy, Johnny Silverhand. The reconstruction efforts, led by Richard Night’s widow and corporate interests, under a new charter, have been ongoing now for twenty-five years, disrupted by an earthquake, a terrorist attack by cultists who believe the nuclear detonation is sacred, and a near-war between Nomad groups that run the transport of passengers and goods in and out of the city. None more so than in the ‘Hot Zone’, the site of the city’s original corporate centre where the bomb went off. It is 2045, the Time of the Red, and Night City remains a heavily armed, corporate-run city-state in the south of the Free State of Northern California, a Free Port serving as the gateway to the Pacifica Confederation that consists of Northern California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and British Columbia.

Night City 2045 is an update of the Night City supplement, covering its history and current status for use with Cyberpunk RED. It is comprehensive guide to the city, an in-world handbook for the tourist or other visitor which they could purchase and download to their Agent called An Outsider’s Guide to Night City, compiled by independent Medias, each describing one of the city’s different districts. As the introduction makes clear, what this means is that the not all of the information in the supplement is true, so the players and their Edgerunners cannot wholly rely upon it and the Game Master is free to determine the veracity of any one detail or another. In terms of timeframe, apart from it being set in the year 2045, Night City 2045 is set during the events of Tales of the RED: Street Stories and Tales of the RED: Hope Reborn. This does mean that there will be spoilers present. The reader will also spot locations from other supplements such as Danger Gal Dossier – A Faction and NPC Guide for Cyberpunk Red and also elements from the computer game, Cyberpunk 2077. For example, players will recognise the Tyger Claws gang which they will encounter early in the computer game and will recognise the Royal Blue Radio, The Dirge, and Night FM radio stations. Long-time fans of Cyberpunk will recognise some of the in-jokes too, such as the descriptions of the Petrochem Plastics Plant and the SovOil Plastics Plant being all but identical—two sides of the same coin.

Besides a history and timeline of Night City, there is a guide to its weather, how to gain its citizenship (including a State Identification Number or SIN), getting there and getting around the city and how much that costs (including getting a driving licence and registering vehicles at the DMV), government, legal framework (justice tends to be summary, the arrested are presumed to be guilty, The Judge is an A.I., and fines can be reduced by public flogging(!) with an electro whip), public services from 911 (also A.I. run) and Backing to medical care and education, utilities and their provision, and media. There is a complete guide to the city’s factions—gangs, criminal organisations, and security providers. Be sure to avoid the Bozos, the faction-driven clown gang whose pranks are deadly; never busk without the Julliard Guild’s permission; and go to the Piranhas if you want the best party in the city. All of the factions have their badges or patches on show and these are used to mark their territory on the supplement’s maps.

There is also a full set of maps for the whole of Night City which show the various elements of the city are. These include its NCART and Rail Lines, bars, brothels, casinos and clubs, housing sites, and medical vendors and markets, with each map also serving as an index of sorts.

Two fifths of Night City 2045 is devoted to mapping and detailing its twenty-four districts from Little Europe, Upper Marina, and the Old Combat Zone on the Island and the Pacifica Playground and Rancho Coronado in the South Side. Each follows the same format. An introduction by a noted Media who provides an overview of the district, followed by details of its city manager and his politics, security provider, recent history, then its locations, and lastly personalities. It is rarely for any location to be given a simple, one paragraph description, most of them are fairly lengthy, and in cases of locations such as markets and high-rises, expanded to give the businesses and persons working and selling out of them. Similarly, the ‘McCartney Field Stadium’ details all of the teams and franchises based in its facilities. The descriptions are written in character, so Leon Vetti, writing about Downtown tells you that whilst ‘Europa Meatworks’ might be the best artisanal butcher’s shop in the city, beloved of foodies and sometimes offering some exotic cuts of meat, he wonders where the meat comes from, offering several suggestions in a conversational tone, whilst next door, ‘Folio’, might feel like a genuine fortune tellers, but that is all drug-laced herbal tea, laser-focused cold reading, and Garden Patch research! Nearby, ‘Goosetopia’ sells collectible vinyl models of geese in different costumes in limited editions. Utterly absurd of course, but in each these there is enough detail that a Game Master can develp a hook or plot. Maybe someone wants to know where ‘Europa Meatworks’ is sourcing its raw cuts, someone’s grandmother is spending too much money at ‘Folio’, and how far will a collector go to complete his collection of vinyl geese? And that is just from a single page. Just about every location description suggests something that a Game Master can develop.

Of course, there really is too much to go through in Night City 2045, but one district that most readers and Game Masters will be interested in is the ‘Hot zone’, what is left of the corporate zone shattered and irradiated by the Fourth Corporate War. So bad its Utility Code is 10. At the heart is the crater where the Araska headquarters once stood, surrounded by buildings in various states of disrepair, some barely standing, others shedding parts and materials like deadly rain. On the edge stands ‘Dark Zone One’, a black zone where any drone flown over it cannot record any footage, snipers shoot anyone who enters, and the urban explorers steer clear; ‘The Dump’ where cleared wreckage from the district is stored (and unofficially picked over by scavengers); and Father Grace, a pastor for the ‘Global Church of Elvis’, lives in ‘Graceland Medical’, out of which he operates an armoured mobile clinic, dispensing healthcare to the nearby scavenger camps for free. The district description is shorter than most, but it is the most different and environmentally at least, the most dangerous.

Night City 2045 does not confine itself solely to within the city boundaries. It goes beyond them to detail the Outskirts where the ‘Municipal Landfill’, ‘Night City Spaceport’, and ‘Militech Ballistics and Explosives Range’ are all located. Night City 2045 finishes on a wacky note, one that presents ‘The Happiest Place in Night City’. This is ‘Playland by the Sea’, a theme pack not part of the city, but just off the coast and with ‘Six Lands of Happiness’. It gives the kitsch banality of a theme park a sharped-edged twist of being run in the dark future of 2045, with the Piranhas gang running security and dealing drugs because anything else would be worse! Its six zones, such as Lovers Lane, Haunted Woods, and Grand Junction with its recreation of San Francisco in 1851, all lend themselves to some weird places to business or simply just run some downtime on a day out! The map of ‘Playland by the Sea’ is a really great, just getting its slightly cheesy feel right.

What does surprise about Night City 2045 is the lack of new rules or mechanics. The two primary additions handle security response to alerts or difficult situations and the service status of the local utilities. Every district in Night City 2045 and every building is given a Security Code. This gives a number representing the likelihood of designated security—appointed or self-appointed—responding to an alert, the faction (gang, Night City Olice Department, or security contractor) which will respond, and an Intensity descriptor—‘Light’, ‘Medium’, or ‘Medium’—which indicates the degree of that response. A Utility Code indicates whether or not the location or district has working access to power, water, and CitiNet, the latter the city’s information network. A Utility Code is given per district rather than per location. When narratively appropriate, the Game Master can roll against the Utility Code to see if the utilities are working, and of course, this can the situation the Edgerunners are in either easier or more difficult. The Security Code is the same whether the Edgerunners want to avoid security entanglements or alert local security. Both mechanics are incredibly simple and easy to use.

Apart from these two rules, Night City 2045 only includes stats for various NPCs found in particular districts. For example, Biotechnica Guards and Night City University Guards in University District, Night City Plaza Busker in The Glen, Combat Cabb Driver in South Night City, and Forklift Driver in Port of Night City. Many of these could appear elsewhere, the Night City Plaza Busker on a street corner or the Forklift Driver in any warehouse, for example.

As much information as there is in Night City 2045—and there is a lot—the supplement is not perfect. The problem is with the maps. The issue is that the orthographic maps in the original Night City supplement were great, whereas in Night City 2045 they are not. They are not terrible maps and they are serviceable, but anyone expecting more will be disappointed.

Physically, Night City 2045 is tidily presented. The artwork is used to depict each district at the head of each chapter and so capture some of the flavour described later. The maps are clear and simple, if unexciting.

Whether it is places where they live, places they want to go, places they have to go, Night City 2045 provides the Game Master with details and descriptions that she can use to bring the experiences of the Edgerunners to life. There are plenty of hooks too, which the Game Master can winkle out and develop, or perhaps let lie for the players and their Edgerunners to discover when perusing An Outsider’s Guide to Night City on their Agents. Versatile and packed full of lore, Night City 2045 is a supplement that the Cyberpunk RED Game Master will find very useful.