Escape to England!

Achtung! Cthulhu is the roleplaying game of fast-paced pulp action and Mythos magic published by Modiphius Entertainment. It is pitches the Allied Agents of the Britain’s Section M, the United States’ Majestic, and the brave Resistance into a Secret War against those Nazi Agents and organisations which would command and entreat with the occult and forces beyond the understanding of mankind. They are willing to risk their lives and their sanity against malicious Nazi villains and the unfathomable gods and monsters of the Mythos themselves, each striving for supremacy in mankind’s darkest yet finest hour! Yet even the darkest of drives to take advantage of the Mythos is riven by differing ideologies and approaches pandering to Hitler’s whims. The Black Sun consists of Nazi warrior-sorcerers supreme who use foul magic and summoned creatures from nameless dimensions to dominate the battlefields of men, whilst Nachtwölfe, the Night Wolves, utilise technology, biological enhancements, and wunderwaffen (wonder weapons) to win the war for Germany. Ultimately, both utilise and fall under the malign influence of the Mythos, the forces of which have their own unknowable designs…

Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Rendezvous at Rouen is a scenario that takes Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 almost all of the way back to to the start of the Secret War. It opens in early June, 1940. The Nazi war machine is has driven into France with its radical Blitzkrieg tactics and the British Expeditionary Force, along with elements of the French, Belgian, and Dutch armies already having successfully completed Operation Dynamo and evacuated from the beaches of Dunkirk. Also operating in Northern France are agents from Section M, conducting Operation Ultimatum in an effort to find and evacuate as much occult-related material as they can—tomes, artefacts, and more—before it falls into the hands of either Black Sun or Nachtwölfe. The agents may have evacuated along with the troops from Dunkirk or Section M may have asked them to stay in France to see what other occult artefacts and tomes they can find and possibly monitor who or what Black Sun or Nachtwölfe are targeting as the occupation of France by Germany continues apace. Either way, they will learn of the activities of Black Sun Jans Stöller in the village of Saint Sulac, southwest of the city of Rouen in Normandy. Perhaps if the agents can stop him, they will at last be ready to be evacuated to England.

Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Rendezvous at Rouen is written to be run following from the events in ‘Mission: A Quick Trip to France’ from the Achtung! Cthulhu Quick-Start. It is also actually designed to be run from the rules given in the Achtung! Cthulhu Quick-Start, though of course, it can be run using the full rules too. Further, both the Achtung! Cthulhu Quick-Start and Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Rendezvous at Rouen can be combined with the demonstration scenario, Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Ultimatum, which takes place during the late stages of the German invasion of France, so before the events of the other two parts. Together, they can form an exciting little storyline. It should be noted that Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Rendezvous at Rouen is not an official scenario for Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20, but published as part of the ‘Modiphius World Builders’ community content programme.

Essentially, Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Rendezvous at Rouen is one big chase scenario which starts with the Player Characters on the outskirts of the city, needing to get in and find the home of their contact who can provide with the details of what they need to do next. Which is to get into Rouen Cathedral and find a way into the catacombs. From here they can follow an escape route once used by the Bishops of Rouen in centuries past and get to meeting point beside the River Seine which runs under the city. Unfortunately, Black Sun has got there before the Player Characters and is not only investigating what lies beneath the cathedral, but conducting some sort of ritual. They will chase the Player Characters to their rendezvous where they can make the connection that enable them to get back to England.

The scenario is a tense affair, either involving a lot of stealth to avoid the patrols in the streets of Rouen or attempting to get away from the Black Sun units in the catacombs and tunnels beneath the city. How well the Player Characters do in getting away from the Black Sun units chasing them determines the end of the scenario and when they actually have to confront the creature that Black Sun was summoning. This is with a giant eel with two arms, imprisoned long ago by Saint Romanus, the Bishop of Rouen in the seventh century CE. The ideal battle should take place at the mouth of the River Seine with the Player Characters aboard the fishing trawler taking them to England as the monster slices through the water to attack them and the boat again and again in true Jaws style.

The plot is thus straightforward and simple, but mechanically detailed. This includes getting across Rouen, but more importantly, the chase through the catacombs under the city. This makes use of an extended test, which is both fully explained and supported by an example. Further support comes in the form of a chase worksheet, as well as stats for all of the NPCs and Mythos monsters and the boat(s) that the Player Characters might end up using in their escape from France.

Physically, Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Rendezvous at Rouen is well presented. The maps of Rouen—one for the players, one for the Game Master—are very nice, and the artwork is good too.

Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Rendezvous at Rouen is simplistic in its plotting and is really one long chase scenario with a big confrontation at the end. However, it provides a big ending for the events of Achtung! Cthulhu Quick-Start, one that is a bit more exciting than a cliff-hanger and definitely gets the Player Characters home in time for tea, biscuits, and their next mission in the SecretWar.