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.

Danger During Dunkirk

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: Operation Ultimatum 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 late May, 1940. The Nazi war machine is driving into France with its radical Blitzkrieg tactics and is retreating back to the Dunkirk on the French north coast, awaiting the beginning of Operation Dynamo and the evacuation from the beaches outside of the port. Alongside this is an effort by Section M to find and evacuate as much occult-related material as it can—tomes, artefacts, and more—before it falls into the hands of either Black Sun or Nachtwölfe. Unfortunately, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the German Luftwaffe has already caught up with Professor Guilbert Paschal, a Section M researcher operating in Normandy and racing to reach Dunkirk when his convoy was destroyed. From its field base in France, Section M sends its agents to investigate the ruins of the convoy, determine the fate of Professor Paschal, and recover his equipment and research. Whatever they are, they could be crucial in understanding Germany’s objectives in the Secret War.

The action begins with the agents of Section M—the Player Characters—roaring up to the site of the convoy’s destruction on British Expeditionary Force provided motorcycles. Time must be of the essence! The agents have time though to investigate the site and gather both clues and left-behind advanced British anti-Mythos technology before following the trail to the nearby ruins of a medieval castle, its towers ablaze with blue flashes of lightning. A contingent of Nachtwölfe troops has got there first though and the agents will need to get past them before climbing to the top of the castle and face another faction in the Secret War. After that, it is time to pack found so far and head home to dear old Blighty and tea and biscuits!

If this sounds a bit short, then that is because it is. Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Ultimatum is written as a demonstration scenario, one that can be run in an hour and showcase the roleplaying game’s background and 2d20 System mechanics. In terms of background the scenario is simple. There is a mission, it involves the occult, there are Nazis, and there are Mythos entities to face. Which means that at least three of the setting main elements are involved, the others being the other factions in the Secret War and the rivalries between them. If there is an issue here, it is that Nachtwölfe troops have no weapons or items of Blauer Kristall technology which the organisation’s signature.

In terms of the mechanics, the scenario’s three scenes guide the Game Master through the key mechanics that she needs to get her players used to. This starts off with a simple skill roll and the generation and use of Momentum, ways for the Game Master to complicate a scene, combat, the use of Fortune and Truths, and so on. None of it is complex and it is handled in an easy fashion. However, Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Ultimatum is not a quick-start and the Game Master will need to know the rules and have access to them prior to play. That said, the Game Master can run the scenario using the rules in the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Player’s Guide and the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Gamemaster’s Guide, or she can use the rules found in the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 Quick-start. The latter is actually a good option, since it includes ‘A Quick Trip to France’. This scenario takes place in June, 1940 and sees the agents return to now occupied France mere weeks after the end of Operation Dynamo. Specifically, near the city of Rouen in Normandy, so potentially where the late Professor Guilbert Paschal was conducting his last mission. Effectively, although designed as a taster to Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 and the Secret War, Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Ultimatum works very well as a prequel to the ‘A Quick Trip to France’.

As a demonstration scenario, Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Ultimatum includes four pre-generated agents. They consist of a German journalist and satirist who has fled the Nazis, a French spy/burglar/killer for hire, a French-Canadian female mechanic and bomb-maker, and a female occultist armed with a couple of Yog-Sothothery-style spells. These are decent enough, but could easily be replaced by agents of the players’ own design.

Physically, Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Ultimatum is well presented. The map of the castle is excellent and each of the pre-generated agents is accompanied by a nice illustration.

Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Ultimatum is a simple affair by design. Since it is a one-hour demonstration scenario, it is not one that a Game Master is going to pick to run for her group when there are plenty of other options available for the roleplaying game, including of course, the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 Quick-start. However, Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Ultimatum comes into its own as a prelude to the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 Quick-start, almost right at the start of of an Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20 campaign.

Island at the Top of the World

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: Operation Cold Threshold is a scenario that takes Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 back to North America, but not the Mid-West USA of Achtung! Cthulhu Mission: Seventh-Inning Slaughter! or the ice cold of British Columbia, Canada of Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Snowstorm. Instead, it takes the Agents out into the Bering Sea in winter, more than a year before the USA joined the war effort and two years before the establishment of Majestic. It is March 1940 and from intercepted radio transmissions, Section M has learned that Nachtwölfe has dispatched a secret expedition ferried board a disguised Russian trawler, the Yalina, into US territorial waters where it has anchored off an uncharted island known as Threshold in the US territorial waters of the Bering Strait. In response, British government has informed its US counterpart and very quickly, the two governments have agreed to launch a joint Anglo-US mission to investigate and interdict the Nazi expedition. This is before the US government establishes Majestic as its counterpart to Section M, so it recruits the soldiers and experts that Professor Richard Deadman, one of the key figures in the future operations of Majestic, perhaps supported by Section M operatives who have already had experience with Nachtwölfe, the Mythos, and the Secret War.

Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Cold Threshold is not a complex scenario. It is a simple matter of climbing onto the island from the other side to the site of the Nachtwölfe expedition, traveling across the top, observing the expedition’s activities, taking images using the assigned experimental cameras, and deciding what to do. There are a couple of wrinkles along the way, such as the weather and a potentially nosy polar bear, but as the Agents film the site, it is obvious that whatever it is that Nachtwölfe is doing on the island, is going to come to fruition soon! It is up to the players and their Agents to decide how they react to that, whether that is scouting the site and the trawler out, or going in all guns blazing. Whatever they decide to do, the mission is going to end in a big fight—though the Agents will have no idea how big—because after all, Achtung! Cthulhu is a roleplaying game of shooting and punching Nazis, let alone blasting the Mythos. Stealth is the better option, since it enables the Agents to learn more, perhaps gain some allies, find the documentation they have been assigned to look for, and perhaps even capture one or two of the enemy. Either way, the way, the scenario will climax with a fight that is both silly and actually makes sense in terms of the Secret War. Plus, there is scope for another faction from the Secret War to join in the fracas if the Game Master wants to complicate things and that also makes sense.

The scenario is solidly supported with stats for all of the Nachtwölfe (and other) enemies, including the quite odd expedition leader, Professor Tedrich Sauber, and the thing that he is after. There are maps for both the island and the expedition site, but no image of the thing that Professor Tedrich Sauber is searching for—and that is pity, because it does deserve to be illustrated. There are no pre-generated Agents either.

Where Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Cold Threshold has the potential to be a little more sophisticated is when the Game Master decides to set it. By default, the scenario takes in 1940, early in the war when the USA was not yet involved. In terms of the Secret War, the scenario takes place mostly after the events of Shadows of Atlantis, yet before A Quick Trip to France and subsequent missions. This limits when the scenario can be run as part of a campaign, as does the fact that it requires more experienced Agents. One way in which it can be used is as a side mission that serves as an introduction to the Secret Wars for American Agents, potentially recruits to Majestic in a few months’ time.

Physically, Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Cold Threshold is well presented. The area maps are serviceable, but otherwise, the scenario is not illustrated.

Achtung! Chtulhu 2d20: Operation Cold Threshold is a simple affair that can be run as a one-shot or a side mission—perhaps when not every player can attend a session—that will play out in a single session. Although it is set up as a classic Commando-raid-style mission, there are some some pleasing little nuances to it that make it a bit more interesting than the gun toting, spell blasting, Nazi-punching shootout that it is. Plus it has a really surprisingly big bad (one that you really really wish had been illustrated.)

Miskatonic Monday #431: The Missing Rabbi of Berezin

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: The Missing Rabbi of Berezin: Eldritch Horror on the Pale of Settlement

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Miri Rosenau

Setting: Belarus, 1870s

Product: One shot
What You Get: Fifteen-page, 5.26 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Who let the cold in?

Plot Hook: The village’s rabbi is missing

Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators, two handouts, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Escape the cold grasp of death before the cold grasp of the Czar

# Short, quite straightforward investigation

# Suitable for convention play

# Frigophobia

# Speluncaphobia

# Teraphobia

Cons

# Underplotted

# No helpful maps

# Difficult to read handouts

Conclusion

# Underwritten in terms challenge and plot

# Intriguing time and place to set a Mythos scenario

Miskatonic Monday #430: Last Dance in Shoreditch

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: Last Dance in Shoreditch

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Seyed P. Razavi

Setting: London, Modern Day

Product: One shot
What You Get: Thirty-page, 15.87 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “There’s always some amount of gradual, slow burning destruction over the course of partying.”—Gavin DeGraw

Plot Hook: Jenny Muir is missing

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, seven handouts, three NPCs, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Nightlife nightmare in the streets of East London

# Nicely done ‘sights, sounds, vibes, and smells’

# Easy to prepare

# Eisoptrophobia

# Scoptophobia

# Melophobia

Cons

# One pre-generated Investigator a little too like the missing NPC

# One pre-generated Investigator has a high Cthulhu Mythos skill

# It will make you feel old

# Avoid any jokes about murder on the dance floor

Conclusion

# Queasy, sweaty descent beyond the ecstasy of London’s nightlife

# Drop the bass, drop the horror

Miskatonic Monday #429: Crappy Detour

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: Crappy Detour

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Phanzar

Setting: USA, Modern Day

Product: One shot
What You Get: Seventeen-page, 8.22 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds meets Call of Cthulhu

Plot Hook: A forced detour confronts the Investigators with a poopy situation

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, five handouts, one map, four Mythos spells, one Mythos tome, and three Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# A terrible pun rather than a case of nominative determinism

# Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds writ large

# Decent map

# Easy to prepare

# Easy to adjust to other times and places

# Customisable Investigators

# Ornithophobia

# Coprophobia

# Pteronophobia

Cons

# A terrible pun rather than a case of nominative determinism

# Needs an edit

# No floorplans

# Sadly, no phobia of Afred Hitchcock

Conclusion

# Obvious pastiche that is not as bad as it sounds

# Decent one-shot that rises above nominative determinism

Cannibals in the Cold

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! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Snowstorm is a scenario that takes Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 back to North America, but not the Mid-West USA of Achtung! Cthulhu Mission: Seventh-Inning Slaughter!. Instead, the action is in British Columbia, Canada, and involves agents of Majestic rather than Section M. The scenario is intended to be set late in the war after the USA has become involved, but does not specify a year. It is designed for mid-level play by a group of experienced Agents and the author notes that the scenario is intentionally deadly, so advises that players might not want to play it using their primary Agents. However, the scenario does not include any guidance as to what character types might be useful or appropriate, nor does it include any pre-generated Agents ready to play. This is a major oversight, since the location of the scenario in western Canada means that it is actually not that easy to get existing Agents there, let alone the fact that it is suggested that they not be used at all. This makes it difficult to add to an ongoing campaign. As ever, a good mix of skills and abilities will be required to overcome the threats in the scenario, but given the physical and environmental nature of the scenario, every Agent should have some combat skills and some survival skills too. Mechanical or technical skills as well as scientific knowledge will also be useful. This is effectively a one-shot scenario, one that will probably take two to three sessions to play through given its focus on combat. Decent sized floor plans of the outpost are provided. They could be used to play out the likely multiple combats that will take place during the scenario using miniatures if the Game Master and players want to.

The Agents’ mission is to travel to Majestic Research Outpost Epsilon-3, which lies a few miles outside of the town of Dunley in British Columbia. Recently, communication has been lost with the outpost, which the Agents’ bosses suspects is due to the severe blizzard which has settled on the area. The Agents are to re-establish contact and assess the current status of the research being conducted there. If there are no problems, then they only have to report back to headquarters. If there are issues, they are ordered to extract the research and return it to headquarters. Of course, this is a scenario for Achtung! Cthulhu, so there are going to be problems.

Those problems begin as soon as the Agents leave Dunley. Having outfitted themselves with weapons and cold weather gear, they must trek their way through the snow and up the side of the mountain where Majestic Research Outpost Epsilon-3 is sited. This is a bit of slog in and out of game. Multiple tests of the Survival (Orienteering) and Athletics (Physical Training) are required to get through the checkpoints representing the journey, which is expected to take just under three hours. Plus, after every hour, a Resilience test is required to avoid both fatigue and further coming under the ‘Influence’, the latter a complication due to the supernatural nature of the blizzard. Mishaps can cause delays, but Momentum can be spent to reduce the time it takes between each checkpoint and potentially reduce the overall time the journey takes and the number of Resilience tests the players have to make for their Agents. After a combat encounter, the players have the choice of a longer, safer way, which will mean further Resilience tests are required, a quicker, but potentially deadly route involving a climb up a cliff…

The aim of the ‘Influence’ is to inflict a growing hunger upon the Agents. This cannot be satisfied by any obvious means and will continue to inflict fatigue losses throughout the scenario. Worse, if an Agent is overcome by ‘Insatiable Hunger’, he will immediately attack the nearest living person—NPC or player Agent—and attempt to chow down on them! In other words, the Agent has been turned into a cannibal, and guess what has happened to the men and women assigned to Majestic Research Outpost Epsilon-3?

After an encounter the ‘Influenced’, the Agents can get into Majestic Research Outpost Epsilon-3. Inside, it is quickly clear that whatever research is being conducted has been disrupted. There are bloody bodies and signs of a desperate fight everywhere, but eventually the Agents will find a lone survivor, a French scientist working for Majestic. It should be obvious that both the scientist and whatever research survives needs to be evacuated. However, as the Agents are chased back down the mountain, help appears in the form of a team of indigenous people’s Pathfinder Demon Hunters, who have been hunting the Wendigo that now stalk the area. Once the fight is over, the Pathfinder Demon Hunters have a demand of the scientist and the Agents. It turns out the research being conducted was on artefacts taken from a nearby dig site that the staff at Majestic Research Outpost Epsilon-3 had recently excavated. The Pathfinder Demon Hunters warn the Agents that unless the artefacts are returned, the Prescence locked within the mountain will be unleashed and the blizzard will spread unchecked across the whole of North America. So, the Agents have a choice to make…

The scenario will end with either the Agents working with the Pathfinder Demon Hunters and saving the world or fighting the Pathfinder Demon Hunters and getting away with the research and so not saving the world. The latter is probably campaign ending as the blizzard keeps spreading and spreading, but the scenario does suggest the possibility of the greatest conflict in world history being turned on its head as all sides involved in the war suddenly must work together to defeat a new enemy which threatens everyone. This is of course left unexplored, but as a new campaign direction, it has interesting potential.

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Snowstorm is a combat-focused scenario, one that is both straightforward and unless the players are new to the genre of Lovecraftian investigative horror, obvious in its choice of threat. There are points where there are opportunities to roleplay, but only a few and the choice presented to the Agents towards the end of the scenario is not an overly difficult one. One way in which greater roleplaying opportunities could have been added and perhaps the choice made more difficult is if the scenario had included a set of pre-generated Agents, complete with backgrounds tied to the situation in the scenario and to each other. This could have added tension and scope for roleplaying. Again, this is a missed opportunity, especially for what is effectively, a one-shot scenario.

Physically, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Snowstorm is well presented. It is decently written and the floorplans of Majestic Research Outpost Epsilon-3 are more than workable. There is no area map and the scenario is not illustrated.

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Snowstorm is unsophisticated in its plotting and obvious in its choice of threat, as well as being combat-focused and physical in nature. This does not mean that it is terrible scenario, but rather as decently done as it is, it could have been all the better with some good pre-generated Agents tied into the scenario’s plot and each other.

Miskatonic Monday #428: Colours of the Deep

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: Colours of the Deep

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Nader Rabie

Setting: Massachusetts, USA, 1925

Product: One shot
What You Get: Thirty-seven-page, 2.19 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: The Colour Out of Space… “Under the sea … Under the sea”

Plot Hook: A tourist trip by advanced submarine ends with a clang and pales into horror...

Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators, nine handouts, one schematic and one deck plan, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Excellent

Pros

# Exhilaratingly creepy underwater threat

# Doubly trapped—underwater and in a mine!

# Strange bedfellows make for maddening allies

# Easy to prepare

# Easy to adjust to other modern times and coastal cities

# Nicely selected illustrations

# Submechanophobia

# Thalassophobia

# Monochromophobia

Cons

# Needs an edit (surprisingly)

# No maps, but the schematic works

# Feels a little too modern for its period

Conclusion

# A one-shot which takes the Investigators somewhere different

# Creepy, claustrophobic encounters with the Mythos that are definitely fish out of water!

# Reviews from R’lyeh Recommends

Friday Fantasy: A Darkness at Runegate

The Dragonrise broke the hold that the Lunar Empire had on Sartar and enabled the clans and tribes the imperial thumb to join forces with the rebels that had long opposed the occupation from the hills and rise up, to free themselves. It also upended the social order, leaving a vacuum where there was not a fully cohesive government. Some settlements were left to fend for themselves. One such town is Runegate, famed for its east gate sacred to Asrelia, the goddess of luck and fortune, and for the great horses it breeds and sells. Despite lying in the lands of the Colymar tribe and being the market and religious centre for three of the tribe’s clans, its leaders and inhabitants have been forced to recover alone in the aftermath of the Dragonrise. This is going to change. Leika Blackspear, newly restored Queen of the Colymar Tribe has despatched a delegation from Clearwine Fort to present gifts to the Runegate leadership and so hopefully lay the groundwork for both its and town’s restored fealty to her. However, when the delegation of four reaches the walled town, they find too many funeral pyres smouldering and being attended to outside of the walls, many of the townsfolk coughing and spluttering, and a far from happy welcome.

This is the set-up for A Darkness at Runegate, a scenario for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha published by Chaosium, Inc.. It comes complete with a set of four pre-generated Player Characters and can be played as a one-shot, but its location and time frame actually make it easy to add to a campaign. It is located in the northwest of the Colymar tribal lands, a day or so’s travel west of Apple Lane. It takes place late in Earth Season of 1625. This combination makes it easy to add to a campaign based in the area, especially if the Game Master has used or is using the campaign material set in and around Apple Lane primarily found in the RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack.

Begrudgingly welcomed into the town, the Player Characters find any fears they had upon reaching Runegate, quickly confirmed. The townsfolk are suffering from a widespread outbreak of disease, but the situation worsens as their only source of respite, the Chalana Arroy priestess, is found murdered in the Lightbringers Temple. This escalates A Darkness at Runegate from a horror scenario into a murder mystery. This being a scenario for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the cause of the diseases is essentially already known. In Glorantha, bad spirits cause disease, sent by the Goddess of Disease, Mallia, and nearly all of the inhabitants of the town have been touched by a disease spirit, and when they interact with them, there is a strong possibility that the Player Characters will be touched by them too. This adds to the impetus driving the scenario. That is, to find the source of disease that it is not only afflicting the townsfolk and its leadership, but potentially the Player Characters. If Mallia, the Mother of Disease and one of Unholy Trio of Chaos gods, is involved, the likelihood is that there are cultists devoted to her operating in Runegate or nearby. Investigation and talking to the townsfolk able to talk will reveal the depth of the problem, but observation will reveal that with the failure of the Chalana Arroy priestess to find the cause and alleviate the symptoms—prior to her death—some in the town are turning to another healer, recently arrived in Runegate.

The scenario will culminate in a confrontation with The Healer as the Player Characters attempt to work out quite who she is and who she actually worships, whilst she obfuscates and prevaricates. The scenario presents several ways in which this can play out, but whether The Healer lives or dies, is captured or escapes, she still has a group of quite nasty allies nearby. Ideally, the Player Characters will be able to identify and deal with the threat that blights the people of Runegate and thus as her delegates, show Queen Leika in a favourable light. Four pre-generated Player Characters are provided if A Darkness at Runegate is to be run as a one-shot or demonstration scenario. They consist of a good mix, particularly ages. There is a young priestess of Ernalda; her elder sister, an initiate of Orlanth Adventurous (Vinga); a middle-aged initiate of Issaries; and a young initiate of Humakt. All four have quite detailed background, but these are not presented separately for easy provision to the players.

Physically, A Darkness at Runegate is decently presented in the style you would expect for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. The new artwork is good, as is the map of the town. There is no map of the region which might have been useful considering that the actual climax of the scenario is likely to take place outside of Runegate.

One thing to note is that A Darkness at Runegate is not a new scenario, it having been used as a demonstration scenario prior to it now actual publication. What this means is that there will be some players who will have already played this scenario, so it will not be of use to every group or Game Master. Of course, given the diversity of games run in Glorantha, this applies anyway. The scenario itself is a little dense, but that is often the way of mystery scenarios. Otherwise, this is a great little scenario that shows off some of the consequences of Sartar’s immediate history and how the world of Glorantha is different to other fantasy settings. A Darkness at Runegate is a desperately disease-driven scenario as a one-shot or convention, but a good addition to a Sartar-based campaign.

Assault on Algiers

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! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Kindling is a scenario that takes Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 back to North Africa after the events of the early war campaign, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands, although the two are not connected. Its set-up—and pretty much all of the scenario—is simple and straightforward. This because it is designed to be played as part of, and is included with, the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Quickstart Pack, along with Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Ultimatum. The latter is designed to serve as a one-hour demonstration session, whereas Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Kindling is slightly more involved and will take a longer session in which to complete. It could easily be run using the players’ own characters, perhaps as a mission to run between the early part of the war and the mid- to late part of the war. However, the scenario is designed to be used as a quick-start, so includes four pre-generated agents. These consist of an indecisive American natural engineer and linguistic, an implacable British Commando with a reputation for surviving combat, a well-read Belgian police detective who has joined the Free French forces, and a French North African sorceress with an eye for clues and reading others. The latter is the only female pre-generated agent.

It is November 7, 1942. The Allies are about to launch their first combined operation—Operation Torch. This is an invasion of North Africa intended to help the British secure victory in North Africa and the Americans gain combat experience against the forces of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. Three task forces are to launch amphibious attacks on the Atlantic coast of Morocco and the northern coast of Algeria, both under the control of Vichy France. As part of this co-operation, Britain’s Section M is to co-operate with the USA’s occult department, Majestic, as well as the French Resistance, in support of Operation Torch, specifically support Operation Terminal, the Allied landing in Algiers, the capital of Algeria. The mission for the combined occult strike team has been named Operation Kindling.

Against the background of distrust between the French and the British because of the Battle of Mers-el-Kébir when the British attacked French vessels to prevent from falling into German hands, the Player Characters are ordered in turn to neutralise a force of Vichy troops at a police station, ideally by getting them to switch sides or surrender; destroy a radio tower; and ultimately, to capture a Nachtwölfe experimental artillery battery and hold it until relieved. The team is also warned that Black Sun forces may also be operating in the area. The set-up is this straightforward and the agents are likely to deal with the mundane Vichy forces very quickly. Only after than does the scenario get interesting. This is with the discovery of a Black Sun convoy which has clearly been ambushed and gunned down. The agents learn too that the ambushers took an object of importance—a ‘horn’. With this information in hand, the Player Characters still need to capture the gun battery, which turns out to be a Blauer Kristall-powered pair of lightning cannons! Once done, their orders are to hold the battery. Which the agents have to do against a force of Black Sun troops which is chasing the Nachtwölfe unit which was responsible for the ambush on the Black Sun convoy. The scenario will come to climax with the agents fighting alongside sudden and temporary allies—the fleeing Nachtwölfe soldiers—and discovering what the ‘horn’ is that they took from the Black Sun convoy.

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Kindling is a combat-focused scenario. There is a little room for interaction, but not a lot. The orders given to the agents mean that they and their players have little room to manoeuvre and act outside of their parameters. For example, the agents cannot do anything with the lightning cannons except shut them down or blow them up. As a combat focused scenario, the easiest way to run the scenario’s climatic combat scene is to let the players roll dice and handle the actions of their agent’s temporary Nachtwölfe allies as well as their agents lest the Game Master be overwhelmed with dice rolls. One thing that the scenario does is expose both players and agents to three of the factions in the Secret War and learn that the relations between the Nazi factions are strained to say the least!

Physically, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Kindling is generally well presented, though it has clearly been rushed in places. Both maps and agent illustrations are fine.

Beyond the amusing play upon its name, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Kindling is a serviceable scenario. Its emphasis upon combat cannot lift it above that and its skirmish nature suggests that its finale really wants to be fought out using miniatures and terrain. Yet it does a reasonable job of showing off the rules and some basic elements of the setting, so it does do what it was written to do.

Friday Fantasy: Stealing the Eye

Stealing the Eye is a smash and grab scenario. The Player Characters have to break into a temple, steal a jewel, and get out again. It is as simple that. Or rather, it is not that simple, because Stealing the Eye is a scenario for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, the roleplaying game of myth and legend published by Chaosium, Inc.. That means there is vengeance and honour thrown into the mix. In the north of Dragon Pass, the lands of Tarsh have for decades been divided between Lunar Tarsh and Old Tarsh, the former under the heavy-handed influence of the Lunar Empire to the north which has long sought to spread its influence and that of the Red Goddess south. Part of this involves repurposing local temples and one of these, once dedicated to a daughter of the Earth goddess, Ernalda, has been rededicated to the worship of Yara Aranis, Goddess of Six Arms, Goddess of the Reaching Moon, and Goddess of the Glowline, the literal line that marks the magical border of the Lunar Empire. Now a band of adventurers from a Orlanthi clan of exiled traditionalists have decided to strike at the Lunars when they and their magics are at their weakest, on Black Moon Day, by breaking into the Temple of Yara Aranis, prying the opal from the forehead of her statue, and striking a blow to Lunar pride, for Orlanthi honour, and the prestige of their clan.

Stealing the Eye is a short and direct scenario, intended to be played in a single session. It comes with a set of four pre-generated Player Characters and can be played as a one-shot, making it suitable for convention play, or it can be added to an ongoing campaign, with the players’ own characters replacing those of the ones provided. Should the players bring their own characters, the Climb, Jump, and Move Quietly skills will probably be the most useful along with their combat skills. One character type that will be useful and one not normally found in typical Player Character groups in RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, is the Thief, whether a worshipper of Eurmal or Lanbril. One of the four pre-generated Player Characters is a thief. There is also another reason why a thief is needed and that is because Stealing the Eye has a bit of history to it—thematic history, that is.

Long time fans of RuneQuest and Glorantha will recognise that the cover of Stealing the Eye is a homage to the cover painting by Tom Sullivan for Gods of Glorantha, a box set published by Chaosium, Inc. and Avalon Hill in 1985. That depicts a pair of adventurers about to do exactly what the Player Characters are doing on the cover of Stealing the Eye. In turn, Tom Sullivan’s cover was inspired a classic piece of roleplaying art—the cover by Dave Trampier of The Player’s Handbook for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition. Which of course, depicted another adventuring party attempting to prise the jewels as eyes out of the statue of a demon. That cover to The Player’s Handbook is perhaps one of the most emulated and copied pieces of artwork in roleplaying history, both as homage and parody, but mainly within the Old School Renaissance segment of the hobby, so it is a pleasure to see it given a nod here.

The scenario begins en media res. The Player Characters, consisting of a Dancing Woman of Maran Gor and the group’s leader, a thief and initiate of Eurmal the Trickster (and also a Duck), an Orlanthi warrior, and a Humkati warrior. Both warriors are brothers. Their task is to break in, get past the guards and temple staff, and make their way to the statue of Yara Aranis—and that is the easy part. How the Player Characters deal with the statue is another matter. The Player Characters have been told that the old Earth spirits, active before when the Lunar Empire arrived and took over the temple, may still be present, just suppressed by Lunar magic. If the Player Characters can appease them, then they may be of some whelp whilst they are in the temple. This would be difficult at the best of times, but again, it is Black Moon Day, so the Lunar magics are at their weakest in the temple—so there is a good chance.

The Player Characters can approach the mission however they want, but the objective is straightforward enough and the scenario covers numerous ways in which they can break into the temple and carry out their mission. The emphasis is on stealth and action as well as making the best use of their magic, rather than roleplaying, and it is designed to be used with the RuneQuest Starter Set or the full rules of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. That said, if the Game Master is running the scenario for players new to Glorantha, it might be worth creating a cheat sheet for each of the Player Characters, in particular, highlighting how Runes, Passions, and spells can be used, since they are pivotal to the play of the scenario.

Physically, Stealing the Eye is nicely presented in the house style of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. It is well written and laid out, and both the cover and the single illustration inside are excellent. The character sheets pack a lot of information onto a single page, but there are no illustrations of the characters themselves. The only thing that is missing that would have been useful, would have been a players’ map of the temple, since their characters are told about the temple in some detail.

Stealing the Eye is a highly serviceable and straightforward scenario that presents a Gloranthan treatment of a classic roleplaying situation. It is easy to set up and run and flexible enough to be run as a single session one-shot, or easily inserted into a campaign.

Philippines Peril

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! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Talisman is a scenario that takes Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 to a theatre of war that it rarely visits, instead focusing in the main upon the home front and Western Europe. That theatre of war is the Pacific and in particular, the invasion of the Philippines by the Japanese. It is early March, 1942, and with the attack on Pearl Harbour by the Japanese Imperial Navy only three months before having delivered a blow to American pride that still stings, the USA is about to suffer another defeat. That is the loss of the Philippines. Already, General MacArthur has been ordered to evacuate to Australia lest he be captured by Japanese forces, but there is still intelligence to be gained from the enemy—some of it of an outré kind. This is an opportunity for Majestic to learn more about the occult activities of the Japanese. What they know, what they wield in the Secret War, and what alliances they might already have made. Just three months into the war, this is an opportunity for Majestic to prove itself and what it is capable of. Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Talisman is a one-shot scenario with five pre-generated Player Characters. It can be played as a one-shot, as the start of campaign in the Pacific developed by the Game Master, or as a potential source of Majestic agents who have been sent on their first important mission and if they survive, could be assigned elsewhere.

The scenario is a three-act affair which opens with the Majestic agents quickly brought together and briefed on their mission to go behind enemy lines and gain actionable intelligence about enemy occult efforts and assets, what their briefing officer describes as ‘Special Assets’, as well as confirmation of disappearances and massacres at the hands of Japanese forces. They are to trek north through the jungle and check on various villages near Mount Naib as they go. The biggest problem that the Player Characters face is that they are up against a deadline—less than five days. They definitely need to hurry up and they are likely to need to make a run for it on the way back.

Initially, the difficulties faced by the Player Characters on their north are natural—slippery underfooting, quicksand, a difficult river crossing, and more, but quickly they will come across more and more signs of Japanese activities, including an initial encounter with the scenario’s primary antagonists, Colonel Takeshita Fuyuto and a strangely silent, long haired and robed woman who appears to strike fear in the surviving villagers. At this point, the characters are not expected to intervene, the Game Master being expected to tell her players that the odds are overwhelmingly against their characters. However, the knowledge they can gather is useful and will help them in the river port of San Domingo where the Colonel Takeshita Fuyuto has established a base and is planning a ceremony of some kind the very night that the Player Characters arrive. Ideally, they should arrive beforehand, have time to reconnoitre the town and hopefully prepare a plan of action.

The summoning is the climax of the scenario and the Player Characters are free to deal with it as they wish. Given that maps are given for the town and the compound where Colonel Takeshita Fuyuto has his headquarters, this final encounter (as well as an earlier encounter at a village), can be run narratively or involve the use of tokens or miniatures—depending upon the inclination of the Game Master and her players. It is a challenging battle as there are still plenty of Japanese soldiers about and the Player Characters are lightly armed (though there is a scene early in the scenario where they have the chance to gain more or better equipment). The aftermath of the climax is a race back through enemy lines to report back to headquarters. Depending upon the outcome of the battle in San Domingo this can extremely unnerving or it can be a relatively safe journey bar a run in with a Japanese patrol or two.

The scenario includes full stats for the chief villains of the piece, Colonel Takeshita Fuyuto and his thoroughly evil ‘great-great-aunt’, Oba-San, as well as Japanese soldiers. The five pre-generated Majestic agents consist of a female dilettante* and traveller of Japanese-Sicilian background, a combat engineer, a military policeman with a background in the occult, an ex-burglar turned soldier, and a Filippino soldier and jungle scout. All five are lightly equipped as there U.S. Army is running short of supplies in the face of the Japanese onslaught.

* Her name is Beverly Andrews. There is no indication as to which set of sisters she is related to.

Physically, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Talisman is generally well presented, though it could have been tidier in places. It does not have any artwork, which is a pity as it would have been nice for the chief villain and his ‘great-great-aunt’ to have been illustrated. The scenario’s four maps are good, but these are battle maps, not area maps. Again, it would have been nice if the area map that the Player Characters are given in game as part of their briefing had also been included as a handout.

Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Talisman is a mission-based scenario. Which means it is quite linear in its plotting, but it will tests the Player Characters from start to finish, there is scope for roleplaying, and of course, there is plenty of action. Plus it takes the players to a different theatre of war and focuses more strongly on other factions in the Secret War. Plus its treatment of the Mythos is a little more restrained in comparison to other scenarios involving either Black Sun or Nachtwölfe for Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20, so the tone of the scenario is a bit more creepy rather than out and out pulp horror. Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Operation Talisman is a solid scenario that be run as a one-shot, as a change of pace from other Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 scenarios, or with some effort from the Game Master be the beginning of a behind the lines campaign in the Philippines.