Miskatonic Monday #193: The Well of All Fear

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. 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: The Well of All Fear

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Kat Clay

Setting: Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England
Product: Scenario

What You Get: Eighty-two-page, 15.98 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Sometimes it is not enough to take the waters, sometimes you have to give back

Plot Hook: A missing brother, and of course, scandal!

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, eighteen handouts including five maps and floor plans, and nine NPCs.

Production Values: Excellent.

Pros

# Fully plotted, period piece

# Well written mystery

# Excellent handouts

# A spa town other than Bath!

# Non-Mythos, Mythos scenario

# Derbyshire without the lycanthropy!

# Kefalitemnophobia

# Aquaphobia

# J9dobphobia

# Gynophobia

# Arithmophobia

Cons

# A spa town other than Bath!

# Needs a slight edit

# Buxton underwritten

# All spa’d out

# Non-Mythos, Mythos scenario

Conclusion

# Stravinsky has nothing on this scandal—though the scandal and its scenario has much to recommend it!

# Bounders, blackmail, and badasses in Buxton in a thorough,  Austentatiously detailed and enjoyable investigation which takes Regency Cthulhu up north

Miskatonic Monday #191: Victor Frankenstein-Reanimator

Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu noneeless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. 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: Victor Frankenstein-Reanimator

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Al Smith

Setting: Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England
Product: Pamphlet Scenario

What You Get: Two-page, 1.92 MB Full Colour PDF (Plus more)
Elevator Pitch: H.P. Lovecraft writes Mary Shelly/Mary Shelly writes H.P. Lovecraft

Plot Hook: Victor Frankenstein’s greatest experiment!

Plot Support: Staging advice and FAQ, four pre-generated Investigators, two handouts, one NPC, one floor plan, one Mythos tome, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Decent.

Pros

# Minimalist pseudo-scientific one-shot

# Low preparation scenario

# Plenty of elements left up to the Keeper to decide

# Another find the solution to the unstoppable monster scenario (but themed)

# Chemophobia

# Necrophobia

# Diokophobia

Cons

# Minimalist pseudo-scientific one-shot

# No stats for Victor Frankenstein or Igor (Fritz)

# Plenty of elements left up to the Keeper to decide

# A grand manor with one floor?

# Another find the solution to the unstoppable monster scenario (but themed)

Conclusion

# Lovecraftian creature-feature in minimalist style

# Easy to set-up and run Mythos-Monster mash that goes all points Herbert West

Miskatonic Monday #175: Host and Hostility

Host and Hostility: Three Regency Scenarios for Call of Cthulhu is an anthology of scenarios for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, and more specifically, Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England. Published by Chaosium, Inc., Regency Cthulhu presents a narrow world inspired by the life and times and the novels of Jane Austen, in which men and women of good character go in search of a worthy marital match in a highly conservative and disapproving society. Yet this highly stratified world faces a greater danger than simply the loss of one’s good name and fortune, scandal or sobriety, and the like—the insidiously ill-mannered forces and influences of the Cthulhu Mythos. Seemingly good men and women, indeed their whole families can hide the darkest of secrets, as can places and the very land itself. All of which are a threat to King and country, let alone society! Yet it would be scandalous to be investigating, even prying into such matters, so how can men and women of good name and sensibilities bring themselves to do so without imperilling both, let alone their very reputations? This is the crux of Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England and it is again explored in Host and Hostility: Three Regency Scenarios for Call of Cthulhu.

Host and Hostility: Three Regency Scenarios for Call of Cthulhu is published via the Miskatonic Repository, Chaosium, Inc.’s community content programme for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Unlike the pair of scenarios in Regency Cthulhu, the trilogy are not designed for group play, but rather one-on-one player, with a single Investigator and the Keeper. They are designed to be run in a single session each, all have a female Investigator as the protagonist, and are in parts heavily influenced by both Austen’s own fiction and the gothic mysteries that were then in vogue. The set-up is simple. Three young ladies, all of marriageable age, have entered into the Season in 1812 in Brighton in order to themselves a good husband. They are Miss. Janitra Chatterjee, Miss. Marina Garrick, and Miss. Georgiana Dillwyn, and each is of different temperament. In turn they are a social meddler and matchmaker, a spirited and frank outdoorswoman, and an intelligent, passionate reader of books, respectively. They are also, in turn, based upon the protagonists of Jane Austen’s Emma, Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, and Northanger Abbey. Full Investigator sheets are provided for each and although different, they all designed to be played with the three scenarios in the anthology. A player could simply choose one of the three to play through all three scenarios, play a different one for each scenario, or choose one and keep the other two as eminently marriageable replacements should the first have unfortunate cause to die under mysteries circumstances or be scandalously confined to the nearby infamous Bedlam hospital! Whatever way the trilogy is used, the Investigator is staying in Brighton as the guest of family friends, Mr. and Mrs. Hampton, and as the Season draws to a close, attends a public ball at the Assembly Rooms where she will receive invitations that involve three eligible men. Which invitation she accepts determines which scenario the Keeper runs, for all three men have secrets to hide and plans to enact—and they all involve the Cthulhu Mythos.

Inspired by the real-life medical case of James Tilly Matthews, ‘Loom and Lucidity’ opens with an invitation from a handsome naval captain with an oddly mysterious past. Scandal threatens the Investigator almost from the start when Lord Cosgrove, about to utter some truths about the man, drops dead at her feet! Nothing seems quite right at Captain King’s London soirée as evening turns odder and odder until the attendees are begin acting in a decidedly strange manner. ‘Loom and Lucidity’ is a short affair which in parts echoes the influences of the Yellow King, but instead combines the sciences, technology, and fears of the period to expose—literally—the Investigator to radical thought. The end does feel mechanical in nature and the outcome of the scenario, certainly in regard to what happens to the NPCs afterwards, is not explored as fully as it could be. It does include some interesting NPCs for Keeper to portray, notably the scenario’s villains, who surprisingly, are not insane, but merely radical! This does not stop them from being villains though, but they would be suitable to return appearance in a future scenario if they managed to escape.

Where ‘Loom and Lucidity’ combined Science Fiction horror with period radicalism, ‘Curate and Curability’ combines classic Lovecraftian horror with classic gothic melodrama. In this scenario, the suitor is the Reverend Henry Mortimer, a widower who recently lost his wife, who invites the Investigator to stay with him and his sister. The vicarage though is dusty and uncared for, perhaps a sign of the reverend’s grief, perhaps something more. There are odd signs about the house that something amiss, which perhaps crystalise when the Investigator sees a ghost in the churchyard! Could the house be haunted by the ghost of the reverend’s late wife? This scenario is linear in nature, although there is room for the Investigator to make enquiries and snoop about, and again, mechanical in terms of handling its denouement. This one is much more physical and combative in nature and the Keeper will need to be conversant with the Chase rules for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Overall, the scenario has a nice sense of loneliness and another presence in the house, as well as a certain ghoulishness, but again, does not really fully address what happens if the Investigator escapes the Reverend’s clutches and wants to do something about him.

In the third and last of the anthology’s scenarios, ‘Note and Notoriety’, the Investigator is invited a ball hosted by renowned aristocrat Sir Jasper d’Ulfrey. It promises to be a lavish affair, and will end with the performance of a new dance that the baronet has devised! What promises to be an exciting night, culminating fireworks, turns out to be so for all the wrong reasons. Sir Jasper’s demeanour veers between the oddly distracted and the oddly excitable, only coming alive when talking of the new dance which is due to take place in the ballroom under a ceiling newly painted with stars. Meanwhile his aunt looks on with disdain, likely to relate the strange family history as dismiss the Investigator out of hand, and Sir Jasper’s cousin, Harriet’s infatuation may lead her into folly and ruin. Then at heart of the family estate is a maze which has an otherworldly feel to it… There is a certain heady rush to the events of ‘Note and Notoriety’, the plot lightly tripping forward to a momentous event liked to the d’Ulfrey family history. This has the feel of more classic Call of Cthulhu scenario and it does a better job of dealing with its possible aftermath and in giving the Investigator multiple methods of foiling its plot.

One similarity that the three scenario shares is the procedurally mechanical nature of their final scenes. This would be less of an issue if there was more than the single Investigator involved as it would lessen the chance of complete failure upon the player’s, and thus the Investigator’s part. A way around that would be to have a companion accompany the Investigator, perhaps a chaperone and one of the other two pre-generated Investigators given in the anthology, portrayed by another player. However, there is no advice provided to that end in Host and Hostility, and only ‘Note and Notoriety’ has any advice on running it with more the single Investigator. Otherwise, the player had better be prepared to spend some Luck in completing any one of the three scenarios.

Host and Hostility comes with a lengthy set of appendices. In turn, these provide a further glossary to add to that of Regency Cthulhu, a description of Brighton during the period, reprints of the handouts, and an Investigator sheet each for Miss. Janitra Chatterjee, Miss. Marina Garrick, and Miss. Georgiana Dillwyn. However, these are only the fronts of each sheet and the Keeper and her player may want to develop the content on the back. The scenarios are themselves well written, the various NPCs decently presented, including roleplaying notes.

Physically, Host and Hostility: Three Regency Scenarios for Call of Cthulhu is genially and genteelly presented. Period-style artwork is used throughout and both the handouts and the maps have a suitably period feel. Although the anthology occasionally includes the manipulated portrait, one engaging touch is that where the outré does occur it is always depicted in a style akin to that of the cartoon satirist, James Gilray. It appropriately undermines the sobriety of Host and Hostility as much as the Mythos does society. Also enjoyable is the silhouette of bonneted member of the Great Race of Yith!

On one level, the title of Host and Hostility is a delightful play on words, highlighting the difficulty and unnatural natures of each of the places where the Investigator is invited to stay. On another, it is an exercise in misogamy, since any one of the three scenarios is likely to put the Investigator off the idea of marriage—let alone the player! Overall, Host and Hostility: Three Regency Scenarios for Call of Cthulhu is congenial trilogy of one-on-one scenarios for Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England, their engaging plots and menaces all superbly supported and presented in period style.

Manners & Mythos

Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England extends the reach of the Cthulhu Mythos and Lovecraftian investigative horror into the late Georgian period, a period synonymous with the novels of Jane Austen such as Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice. Indeed, it is these novels which this supplement for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition draws from to create a highly stratified setting that is very much one of pride and propriety, reputation and rumour, and scandal and sobriety. Both gaming and roleplaying have visited the period before, but only in a limited fashion, for example, Jane Austen’s Matchmaker and its expansion, Jane Austen’s Matchmaker with Zombies and Good Society: A Jane Austen RPG, but for the most part have preferred to visit the earlier Georgian period of the eighteenth century or the later Victorian Era of the nineteenth century with roleplaying games such as Dark Streets and Cthulhu by Gaslight respectively. Regency Cthulhu provides everything a Keeper and her players needs to explore the period and mind both their manners and the Mythos, including an overview of the period, new Investigator Occupations, new rules for Reputation, a setting, and two scenarios, as well as appendices.

Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England is set between 1811 and 1820, the period when King George III succumbed to mental illness and under an act of parliament, his eldest son George, Prince of Wales, was appointed prince regent to discharge royal functions. The Prince Regent would succeed his father as George IV in 1820, followed by his brother William IV in 1830. Both the Regency and Georgian eras would end with the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837 and the beginning of the Victorian era. It encompasses a period of near constant war, primarily against the French in the Napoleonic War, but also against the Americans in the War of 1812, of social unrest and poverty, the growth of the Industrial Revolution, and the burgeoning mercantile classes wanting to better themselves despite being in trade! Much of this, though, remains offscreen in Regency Cthulhu which focuses on the landed gentry, the well-to-do, and the minor nobility. The men of this class either inherit their wealth and their home from their father as the eldest son, or enter an appropriate profession, such as the military, the clergy, or the law, whilst women take up acceptable pastimes like embroidery, painting, or the piano, prepare herself for marriage, find a suitable husband—if one is not found for her and do so early, lest she become an old maid, and then devote herself to her children. It is these members of the landed gentry that players roleplay in Regency Cthulhu, going to tea, attending fancy balls, entering into chaste courtships, minding their manners—always, and perhaps, investigating the dark, unseemly presence of Cosmic Horror which hides behind the gentile façade of good society!

Regency Cthulhu opens with a good overview of the Regency period, including social interaction, the roles of both men and women in society, romance and courtship, transport, technology and weapons, as well as a detailed timeline. It also includes appropriate discussions on consent within the game, particularly on how to handle romance, as well as notes on sex and sexuality, and race and ethnicity, which both highlight how Georgian England was often more diverse than you might think, but in the case of sex and sexuality, usually behind closed doors, and if more public, then only because wealth allowed such indulgences by society at large. This enables some degree of representation in what is otherwise a highly stratified and conservative society, should the Keeper and her players want to include it.

In terms of what Investigators are available, Regency Cthulhu gives a lengthy list of Occupations, highlighting those appropriate to the setting. Artist, Author, Clergy, Doctor, and even Spy are included as suitable, whilst those such as Craftsperson, Criminal, Miner, and Shopkeeper are not, all being labouring or trade jobs. Some are also listed as ‘hobby’ careers that typically a gentleman can take up as a pursuit, but not pursue too zealously. In addition, Gentlemen, Gentlewoman, Nouveau Riche, and Servant—Housemaid and Footman are included as new Occupations. New skills are added too, whilst the technological ones of the future are forgone. Skills such as Dancing, Etiquette, and Fashion become important, whilst Mesmerism replaces the Hypnosis skill and the delightfully done Reassurance skill replaces the Psychoanalysis skill. Guidance is also given should the Keeper want to run Regency Cthulhu using Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos, as a well as an Investigator sheet for it.

The major changes in terms of the rules in Regency Cthulhu are both social in nature. The first, Occupational Bands, represent a person’s—and thus an Investigator’s—status in society. There are five Occupational Bands: Labourer/Servant, Shopkeeper/Craftsperson, Professional, Gentry/Nouveau Riche, and the Aristocracy. Which Occupational Band a person or Investigator belongs to is determined by a combination of his Credit Rating and what he does as an occupation (or Occupation). In Regency Cthulhu, the default is Gentry/Nouveau Riche and the Occupations Gentlemen, Gentlewoman, and Nouveau Riche, but the Professional Band and its Occupations of Accountant, Antiquarian, Architect, Clergy, Doctor, and so on, are also acceptable. It is possible to play members of the lower Labourer/Servant or Shopkeeper/Craftsperson Occupational Bands, but a combination of their lack of social mobility and the disdain in which they are held would preclude them from the type of events and soirees that members of the other Occupational Bands could attend. Of course, it could be possible to solely roleplay members of the Labourer/Servant or Shopkeeper/Craftsperson Occupational Bands and conduct investigations of their own, well away from the notice of the well-to-do (if they took the time to notice, that is). It is possible to move between one Occupational Band and another, but being upwardly mobile would, publicly at least, be seen not knowing one’s place and getting above one’s station.

The second, is that of Reputation. It is derived from the Investigator’s Etiquette and Credit Rating skills and measured as a percentile value. It can be lost for a mix of infractions, such as dressing inappropriately for a social event, making a false accusation against another, defaulting on one’s creditors, and serious loss in one day can lead to societal censure and both a Penalty die to social skills and invitations to events not being extended to the Investigator. A higher Reputation will grant an Investigator a Bonus die to social skills and invitations to more prestigious events. In general, it is easier to lose Reputation than it is to gain or restore it. The Reputation rules also handle gossip in the game. Reputation is, essentially, the equivalent of Social Sanity, both mechanically and thematically, and just like the Sanity mechanics it is eminently elegant and simple piece of design. It sets up not just a fantastic verisimilitude, but also a brilliant tension in the game between the need to investigate the Mythos and its dire influences and the potential cost in terms of an Investigator’s Reputation because he is being seen to act outside of societal norms. Consequently, any Investigator making enquiries as to the Mythos or the occult or the outré, had best do so away from the judgement of his peers.

In terms of setting and scenarios, Regency Cthulhu details one of the former and provides two of the latter. The fictional rural town of Tarryford, located in the county of Wiltshire between Salisbury and Bath, is described in some details as are its inhabitants. The latter in particular provide plenty of secrets, and story and roleplaying hooks that the Keeper can develop once the two scenarios, both set in and around the town, have been played through. The town feels very English and anyone from the region will recognise its feel. The first scenario is ‘The Long Corridor’ and is a short, two session affair that sees the Investigators invited to the annual Northlake Ball to be held at Northlake Hall by Lord and Lady Northlake. Set in 1813, the ball proceeds apace until the Investigators are intrigued by the activities of the Northlakes’ eldest daughter. She and her friends are investigating one of the corridors in the house—it has grown longer! Ideally, the Investigators look into this themselves and discover not only that the corridor is growing longer, but it also hides both monsters and a dark family secret. It does take some investigation to get to the truth of the matter and can leave the players and their Investigators with a moral quandary depending upon which possible solution to the mystery the Keeper has opted for. One of the appendices at the back of Regency Cthulhu details Tarryford in 1913 should the Keeper want to run a sequel to the scenario.

The second scenario, ‘The Emptiness Within’, is much longer and intended to be run as a sequel to ‘ The Long Corridor’. It takes place in 1814, as a rash of sleeping sickness besets the inhabitants of Tarryford. Initial investigation points to the town’s Four Feathers public house where the victims all regularly drank, so is there something wrong with the beer or has the landlord adulterated it? Discovery of ancient tunnels beneath the tavern lead to a temple complex, the ambitious inheritors of a nearby house with an unsavoury reputation, and a mystery thousands of years old! It is a good follow up to earlier ‘The Long Corridor’ with opportunities for both adventure and social faux pas aplenty.

Regency Cthulhu is rounded out with a quintet of appendices. The contains a set of six pre-generated Investigators, all of them interesting and accompanied by options for running them using Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos. These are designed for use with the two scenarios in the supplement. The second appendix covers ‘Equipment, Tables, And Miscellanea’, including a Regency costume glossary (sadly not illustrated); the third the town of Tarryford in 1913; and the fourth all of the handouts. The latter includes both an invitation of the Northlake Ball for ‘The Long Corridor’ scenario and ‘A Brief Introduction to the Regency Era’ intended to be given to the player who does not necessarily want a history lesson before he begins play! Lastly, the fifth appendix consists of a good bibliography.

Physically, Regency Cthulhu is as well presented as you would expect for a supplement for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. It is engagingly and enjoyably written, the cartography is decent, and the range of artwork, including one done in the style of James Gilray, is all period appropriate and in some cases, subtly disturbing. The handouts are also very well done.

One possible downside to Regency Cthulhu is that the supplement does not explore the Mythos or the occult during the late Georgian period. So, there is no discussion of what cults—Mythos or mundane—might be operating in England at the time or what their objectives are, what the various Mythos races might be doing, who the leading cultists or occultists might be, and so on. Nor does it address the wider world in anything more than passing detail. It is thus not a setting supplement in the fullest sense of the term, such as Cthulhu by Gaslight or Cthulhu Invictus. To be fair, its remit is quite narrow, in terms of both setting and of who and what you play, as is its primary source material. Further, this does leave a much wider canvas for the Keeper to create her own content, including for the Miskatonic Repository, as with Host and Hostility: Three Regency Call of Cthulhu Scenarios. In this, Regency Cthulhu does at least suggest different campaign possibilities set during the period such as one set during the Napoleonic Wars a la Sharpe or one involving the servants of the landed gentry rather than members of the landed gentry a la Upstairs/Downstairs or Downton Abbey, but a century earlier.

Another potential problem is the way in which women, members of what would be today called the LGBTQ+ community, and non-Caucasian characters, are portrayed. Not in Regency Cthulhu itself, but in the society of the period. It is difficult to get around the issue and the supplement does address the issue in a mature fashion and suggests ways in which it can be handled. Nevertheless, the setting and its society do place constraints on such characters and in some ways—especially for women—they are integral to the setting. Ultimately, whilst the Keeper and her players should make adjustments to Regency Cthulhu so as to alleviate any difficulties or discomfort they may have with the Regency period, the tension between what is proper and acceptable and scandalous or improper behaviour lies at the heart of the Regency Cthulhu setting. There is of course, nothing from stopping the Keeper and her players from taking their cue from Bridgerton for the tone and style of Regency Cthulhu that they want to play.

Of course, a less serious issue is the possible humour to be found in the setting primarily inspired by Blackadder III. There is no way around that except to agree not to involve it or get it out of the way as soon as possible. After, King Arthur Pendragon remains a superb roleplaying game despite the influence of Monty Python and the Holy Grail over the players. 

Regency Cthulhu presents a challenge in portraying men and women of good character in a highly conservative and stratified society by emphasising the roleplaying and storytelling possibilities within that challenge. It also contrasts this challenge against the drive to investigate the unknown horrors of the Mythos and suffering the consequences of doing so in such a society. By successfully doing so, through a combination of elegant mechanics, clear explanations of societal norms, and two good scenarios, Regency Cthulhu: Dark Designs in Jane Austen’s England brings alive the Regency period and its roleplaying potential to the fore, balancing tensions and expectations both.

Hacking Convicts & Cthulhu

The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu combines two of the more interesting titles to come out for roleplaying Lovecraftian investigative horror. The first is of course The Cthulhu Hack, the elegant, stripped back player-facing roleplaying game based on The Black Hack. The second is Convicts & Cthulhu: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in the Penal Colonies of 18th Century Australia which presented a new society and new horrors against a backdrop of isolation and corruption in a convict colony. The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu brings the two together, providing an introduction to the setting of Great Britain’s first steps on the far continent and supporting them with the light mechanics of The Black Hack.

Published by Just Crunch Games, The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu layers the background elements over the mechanics of The Cthulhu Hack. So it uses the same five Classes as The Cthulhu Hack—Adventurer, Bruiser, Philanthropist, Ruffian, and Scholar. Then a player selects from a Role, essentially what the Investigator does in the New South Wales penal colony, the options being Convict, New South Wales Corps officer, Free Settler, or Government Official. This determines starting equipment. Each Investigator also needs an Occupation, whatever he did before coming to Australia and if a Convict, an Offence, whatever it was that got him transported. There are more social benefits to these background details, but there are likely to be circumstances where the Keeper will award an Investigator an Advantage or Disadvantage die, depending upon the circumstances.

Our sample Convict is Henry Bacon, a big man capable of handing out a battering. Greed and a fondness of gin got him involved in crime and he became a fearsome gang member. He did kill a man, a rival gang member, but witnesses all swore that he was provoked and that it was self-defense, so Bacon did not go to the scaffold. He was sentenced to transportation for life instead.

Henry Bacon
First Level Bruiser
Role: Convict
Crime: Murder
Occupation: Bricklayer
STR 16 DEX 13 CON 11
INT 13 WIS 11 CHA 09

Hit Points: 12
Sanity Die: d8
Attack Damage: 1d8/1d6 (Unarmed/Improvising)
Lamplight/Rum: d4/d4
Gear
Uniform, bandana, six letters from home, shiv, empty flask

Mechanically, The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu makes three changes. The first is to have all attributes rolled on 2D6+4 rather than three six-sided dice. This is reflect the harsher life and conditions in the colony. The other is to change the names of the Flashlights and Smokes—the first the resource used to discover clues, the second the resource used to purchase things or bribe people—to Lamplight and Rum. The reason for the change from Flashlights to Lamplight is obvious, but that of Smokes to Rum less so. The change is because Rum was a unit of currency in the early years of the colony.

The third change is to add rules for Shock. This gives an alternative effect to failing a roll of the Sanity Die, a short, sharp shock lasting a moment or a few rounds while an Investigator suffers the shakes, dives into cover, faints, screams, and so on. This allows the players to better handle their Investigators’ Sanity Dice as a resource, so that they are not depleted too early on in a scenario.

What The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu does not do is provide the means to create Aboriginal Investigators as does Convicts & Cthulhu: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in the Penal Colonies of 18th Century Australia. The author explains that this is because this would add further tension to a playing group in an already tense situation. Guidelines are given for equipment in the colony, for blackpowder weapons and indigenous weapons—the latter surprising given the lack of Aboriginal Investigators. Also listed are possible written sources of information that might be sources of written information for the Investigators and a number of Mythos entities indigenous to Australia to supplement those given in The Cthulhu Hack. This is accompanied by a short discussion of the Mythos down under. 

Rounding out The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu is ‘Longships and Short Fuses’, an adventure outline set at mine where the treatment of the convicts has led to its superintendent being recalled to Sydney. After he has left, a tunnel collapses in the mine revealing a centuries old burial containing a Viking longship. Three options are given as what is going on at the mining site and these are decent enough. It is just that encountering an entombed Viking longship on the coast of Australia of all places, is more than likely to stretch the credulity of the players, let alone the fact that they will have to portray their Investigators not necessarily knowing all that much, if anything at all, about the Vikings. 

Physically, The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu is reasonably laid out and lightly illustrated. As written, The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu is just about serviceable as an introduction to the setting of Convicts & Cthulhu: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in the Penal Colonies of 18th Century Australia, but no more and no less. If there is an issue with the supplement, it could have better highlighted the corruption rampant in the colony during the period of this setting. Arguably Convicts & Cthulhu: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in the Penal Colonies of 18th Century Australia overemphasised it just a little too much, but The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu does not emphasis it enough. If there is a second issue with the supplement, it is the nature of the scenario, which is faintly ridiculous.

Ultimately, to get the most out of The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu, the Keeper will need the fuller information and background to the setting found in Convicts & Cthulhu: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in the Penal Colonies of 18th Century Australia. Thus The Cthulhu Hack – Convicts & Cthulhu provides a serviceable method to run the Convicts & Cthulhu setting using The Cthulhu Hack rules.

—oOo—

Just Crunch Games will have a stand at UK Games Expo, which will take place between June 2nd and June 4th, 2017 at Birmingham NEC. This is the world’s fourth largest gaming convention and the biggest in the United Kingdom.

New Colonial Cthulhu

For Call of Cthulhu, the continent of Australia is best known through the supplement, Terror Australis; in full form, the campaign, The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep; and by extension, the Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion. The focus of these three books is firmly upon the RPG’s default period, that is, the Jazz Age of the 1920s. This though is to ignore the centuries of history since coming of Europeans in the late eighteenth century and the millennia of history before the coming Europeans when the only inhabitants of the continent were the Aborigines. Thankfully, in 2016’s most unexpected release for 2016, Australian small press publisher, Cthulhu Reborn, sets out to address this lack with a supplement devoted to a period famliar that will be familiar to many an Australian, but little known beyond the shores of the continent.


As its title suggests, Convicts & Cthulhu: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in the Penal Colonies of 18th Century Australia, explores the presence of the Mythos and presents roleplaying opportunities in the very early days of Australia’s colonial history. When it was not a colony in a traditional sense, but a penal colony, a gaol on the other side of the world where the dregs of the United Kingdom’s society could be transported to work out their sentence. When it was not yet officially Australia, but simply New South Wales. When it was not yet quite self-sufficient, but reliant upon the meagre support—other than in terms of fresh convicts and the labour that they can provide—from the mother country. The broad focus for Convicts & Cthulhu is during the decade or two after European settlement, roughly 1795 to 1810, and more closely on the events leading up to, during, and after the Rum Rebellion of 1808. The supplement casts the player characters—who will go to become investigators—as convicts, as government officials, as members of the New South Wales Corps, and even as free settlers come to start afresh. Theirs is a rough and ready land and society, effectively under military rule and justice, but one that is rife with corruption and graft, for many men of the NSW Corps are the worst soldiers that England can send, some no worse than the convicts they guard. Even when London becomes aware of the corruption, it appoints the least suitable man to solve the problem—Captain William Bligh of the infamous Mutiny on the Bounty, no less!

Convicts & Cthulhu goes into some depth about the early years of the New South Wales colony. This includes its history, daily life, trade, relations with the Aborigines—both as bad as and better than you would expect, as well as presenting a gazetteer of the principal places in the colony. These are Sydney and Parramatta plus places in between and come with maps of the major settlements and descriptions of notable NPCs (though not stats), such as Captain William Bligh and John Macarthur, the NSW Corps officer and entrepreneur who would foment the Rum Rebellion against Bligh. Also described are various Aboriginal settlements as well as Van Diemen’s Land (modern Tasmania) and Norfolk Island, a place of secondary punishment, essentially the penal colony’s penal colony.

In terms of what roles the players can take, Convicts & Cthulhu divides its character templates into three categories. These are Indigenous Occupations, Convict Occupations, and Free Occupations. They include Hunter/Gatherer, Clever-Man/Woman, and Indigenous Convict/Labourer for the first; Career Criminal, Fallen Clergyman, and Political Agitator for the second; and Farmer/Settler, NSW Corps Officer, and Publican (Bar Owner) for the third—amongst others. Each makes use of the adjusted skills list particular to the setting. This adds various Aboriginal skills like Alcheringa Dream Lore, Dream Song, and Lore (Aboriginal), replaces Psychology with Insight from Cthulhu Invictus and Cthulhu: Dark Ages, adds the Religion skill, and gives reduced starting percentages for skills such as Language (Own) and Swim. It does make use of the Credit Rating skill as per Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, noting that barter predominates in the colony and that a convict’s Credit Rating will vary according to whether or not he is still serving his sentence or been given a pardon, and so on. A notable addition are the rules from the recently released Pulp Cthulhu for the effects being drunk. This is not surprising given the amount of alcohol consumed in eighteenth century English society and the fact that the primary currency during the period that is the main focus for Convicts & Cthulhu is rum.

What Convicts & Cthulhu does not do is add much in the way of the Mythos. There are new cults, such as the Sharks-Tooth Cult, the Industrious Brothers of the New World—perhaps an offshoot of the Brotherhood of the Beast and New World Industries?, the Outcast Dreamers, and so on. These are really thumbnail descriptions left for the Keeper to develop and in fact, the Heralds of the Silver Dawn, which appears in the supplement’s scenario, is better developed. Some indigenous horrors are also described, but not given stats for. An experienced Keeper will probably be able to devise some stats from the descriptions alone, but for the less experienced Keeper, this may be an issue, at least until the supplement, Secrets of Australia is released. That said, the lack of availability of Secrets of Australia as of 2016 also presents problems that bear returning to… Nevertheless, the given presence of the Mythos in Convicts & Cthulhu feels about right. It is not overdone and there is no sense that entities or agents of the Mythos are running wild. The fact that the colony is rough and ready, grasps desperately in places at the veneer of civilisation, and is surrounded on all sides by the great unknown and the alien, means that when either is at work, there are layers upon layers that it can hide behind.

The bulk of ‘Mythos Tales’ presents the scenario, ‘Un-Fresh Off The Boat’. With a title echoing that of the ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ scenario and campaign starter for Tékumel: Empire of the Petal Throne, this introductory affair brings the player characters—they are not yet investigators—to New South Wales. They have come as convicts sentenced to transportation, new recruits to the New South Wales Corps, recently appointed government officials, or even settlers looking to make a new start, but after a long, tiring voyage, they find themselves quarantined aboard ships whose crew and passengers are beset by a horridly pustulent disease. Fortunately, they have not contracted this malady themselves, so this means that they are best suited to go ashore surreptitiously to track another passenger who jumped overboard and fled ashore.

Designed to be run in a single session, ‘Un-Fresh Off The Boat’ is a relatively straightforward investigation that touches upon various aspects of the Convicts & Cthulhu setting—the social order of convicts versus gaolers, the rough nature of colonial justice, the uncouth nature of society, and so on. It is primarily a social and interactive affair, although it does come to a bloody, violent climax, one that any convicts who number amongst the investigators will find to be a tough challenge. It is a good starting scenario, setting the investigators up for their life to come in the new world and hinting at some of the dark secrets. It is followed by six scenario seeds, each with options as to the source of the threats they each present, all of which are nicely detailed. Rounding out Convicts & Cthulhu is a good bibliography, some sample NPC stats, and a Convicts & Cthulhu Investigator Sheet.

Physically, Convicts & Cthulhu feels a bit tightly produced, but that is down to the printing process rather than anything else. Otherwise , it is cleanly presented. It is profusely illustrated with a mix of publically available artwork and maps, plus some excellent new maps and new artwork, the latter being rather good. It does need another edit and the writing could be clearer and tighter in places.

That there is plenty of detail presented in Convicts & Cthulhu to help the Keeper bring the rough and ready colony alive is undeniable. In places though, the supplement does feel lacking. There is not a great of information on the Aborigines or their culture, on the ‘monsters’ indigenous to the new country whether of the Mythos or not, and there is no background information provided for the various Character Templates. The first two issues are likely to be addressed in the forthcoming Secrets of Australia, but the fact that it is suggested that the Keeper refer to that supplement, does mean that the Convicts & Cthulhu does feel like an adjunct to it. The third issue can probably be addressed with some historical research, but the lack of familiarity with the British Isles of the Georgian period is likely to be an issue for some. One issue that some may have with the supplement and its setting is that it is not particularly kind to women and players may be uncomfortable with the misogyny of the period and especially of the setting.

Convicts & Cthulhu presents a new society—with new social mores and traditions—to work in too and an investigation process that will rely on the physical and the personal means rather than the academic or technical means—the latter two being particularly limited in the penal colony. It comes with a good beginning scenario, ‘Un-Fresh Off The Boat’, which is begging for a sequel, even a campaign, though more scenarios would also be appreciated. The supplement itself could even be expanded with more information and more scenarios. (Cthulhu Reborn has already begun addressing this issue with the Tickets to Leave series, each a small supplement that addresses particular aspects of the setting.) Above all Convicts & Cthulhu presents a new period of history and a new setting to explore in Call of Cthulhu, one that is not only accessible and richly detailed, but also feels refreshing and different to periods and settings previously explored by the RPG. Currently available as a Pay What You Want supplement, Convicts & Cthulhu: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in the Penal Colonies of 18th Century Australia is bargain that deserves both your time and more support.