Miskatonic Monday #469: Tournament of Shadows – Book 1 – Campaign Guide

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.

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Name: Tournament of Shadows – Book 1 – Campaign Guide

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: James Killick

Setting: London, India, & Syria 1893

Product: Campaign introduction for Cthulhu by Gaslight

What You Get: Twenty-two page, 1.84 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Keeper’s guide to the Tournament of Shadows campaign

Plot Hook: Her Majesty’s empire, if not the world, is endangered
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, ten NPCs, one Mythos tome, and seven Mythos artefacts.

Production Values: Excellent

Tournament of Shadows – Book I: Campaign Guide is the introduction to, and reference for, Tournament of Shadows, a campaign set in 1893 and thus for Cthulhu by Gaslight, which will take the Investigators from London to Syria via the British Raj. In doing so, it explores a conspiracy that is not only a threat to the British Empire, but also the world and whose history lies in the politics of the Crusades and the ancient Harrapan Civilisation dating back millennia. The campaign consists of The Limehouse Piper, the optional introduction and prelude to the campaign (which could be run as a standalone scenario without the Keeper actually running the campaign), followed by Tournament of Shadows – Book II: England, Tournament of Shadows – Book III: India, and Tournament of Shadows – Book IV: Syria. Of the three core parts, the first and second parts visit locations that will be in parts familiar for Cthulhu by Gaslight, whilst the third explores a region rarely visited by Call of Cthulhu, let alone Cthulhu by Gaslight!

Tournament of Shadows – Book I: Campaign Guide gives a good overview for the campaign and its background, including its detailed historical background. There is a clear presentation of the aims and natures of the cults driving its plot, Al-Assadeen and Ek Hazaar Jawaan, and their Mi-Go allies, as well as what the Investigators need to do to defeat those aims. This is accompanied by timelines of their activities as well as a master timeline for the campaign that runs from the late twelfth century to the beginning of the campaign in late 1893. Plus there are also descriptions of the NPCs involved in the campaign, for good or ill, and all of the artefacts which play a role in the campaign. The artefacts can roughly be divided between those whose origins lie in the Harrapan Civilisation (which would be identified or known about until the nineteen twenties) and those used by the Mi-Go, the latter adding a technological horror element to the campaign.

Perhaps the most notable NPC included in the campaign is the Norwegian explorer, Sigerson, who in fact, is not the Norwegian explorer, Sigerson, but actually the famed consulting detective, Sherlock Holmes, who is known to have travelled to Lhasa in Tibet during this period, following his defeat of Professor Moriarty and supposed death at the Reichenbach Falls as detailed in ‘The Adventure of the Final Problem’. How much of a role he plays in the campaign proper remains to be seen, but with the campaign already having skirted around the Jack the Ripper murders of a decade before, the inclusion of Sherlock Holmes pushes the tone of the campaign towards more Pulp sensibilities. It may be a case that he appears as Sigerson only, and thus a nice reference for players who are Sherlock Holmes fans, but it could be more.

The advice for the Keeper is solid. This covers reminding players of the clues that their Investigators have found, having the players each prepare two linked Investigators since the campaign is punishing, encouraging the players (and their Investigators) to keep notes and records, and so on. In terms of Investigator design, it suggests that a British or Indian Army officer will be useful, whilst explaining that an aristocrat might not be wholly suitable given his status and duties. It does not go any further than that in terms of Investigators types and roles that the players could create for the campaign and that perhaps is its biggest omission.

There are overviews too, the government and authority figures of the period—in Great Britain, India, and Syria—though whether or not the Investigators will meet some of them is another matter. The likelihood though, is that the players are going to be more interested in the sections on the weapons that their Investigators may be wielding and/or may encounter during the course of the campaign. It notes that the majority of readily available firearms are going to be black powder guns and not the modern Martini-Henry or Lee-Metford (Mark I) rifles that the players might otherwise want. Included too are the Bandukh Torador and Jezzail rifles of the subcontinent and various melee weapons of the Levant and India. It otherwise suggests that the Keeper and her players refer to Cthulhu by Gaslight: Investigators’ Guide – Mysteries & Frights in the Victorian Age and Investigator Weapons Volume 3: Gaslight Era for further details.

Rounding out Tournament of Shadows – Book I: Campaign Guide is a good bibliography, including both fiction and non-fiction. This covers all three regions where it is set, but also sources for India for Call of Cthulhu. It is undoubtedly useful, but does highlight the lack of exploration of the Levant in this period (and Call of Cthulhu in general).

Physically, Tournament of Shadows – Book I: Campaign Guide is cleanly and tidily laid out. Of note are the illustrations, which are very nicely done, imparting a lot of flavour and character, whether of the artefacts in the campaign or the NPCs.

The oddity with Tournament of Shadows – Book I: Campaign Guide is perhaps that both it and the actual chapters of the campaign are available separately, rather than as a single combined volume as per other campaigns for Call of Cthulhu (though of course, they are available as a bundle). The only omission is a discussion of what Investigator types and Occupations might be suitable beyond the military officer and the potential problems with including an aristocrat. Otherwise, the Tournament of Shadows – Book I: Campaign Guide does everything that you expect it to, providing the Keeper with the basics of everything she needs to know as part of her preparation for the campaign.