Archaeology & Appreciation

The world of Spume is hellhole and you definitely would not want to live there. Most of the few hundred that do live on the planet reside in the single dome settlement of Dryavis, where they conduct mining operations via remote drones and vehicles. Outside of the dome, the planet, with its thin, tainted atmosphere, is subject to near constant seismic activity, widespread volcanic activity, and a near constant rain of ash and rocks, all at extremes of temperature and intermittent radioactivity. Located within the Darrian Confederation in the Darrian Subsector of the Spinward Marches, just two parsecs away from the capital and one parsec away from the homeworld, nobody would willing want to visit Spume. Except that the planetary population has risen by a handful with the arrival of a team of scientists from the departments of geophysical sciences and engineering at Idikelin University to conduct field research. Unfortunately, the site designated for the expedition’s base was highly prone to seismic activity and a sudden landslip upended the base and made it uninhabitable, forcing the surviving members of team to flee across the highly inhospitable surface of Spume. This is the set-up for and plot of Ashfall, the first part of a trilogy of scenarios published by March Harrier Publishing for use with Traveller, Second Edition from Mongoose Publishing. Having reach the safety of Dryavis, the mining base that is the only settlement on the planet, the Player Characters are given a chance to recover and recuperate, perhaps go over the the scientific data they have gathered so far, and even get involved in the daily lives and culture of the people that make the base their home. This and the discovery of a corporate conspiracy to replace the current crew with cheaper, genetically modified miners played out in Ashfall II: Under the Dome, the sequel to Ashfall.

The third final part of the trilogy, Ashfall III: Into the Crust, takes place barely a day after the events of Ashfall II: Under the Dome have been investigated and settled. Although they are neither miners nor technical staff at the base, the Player Characters have become accepted as part of the community. Especially if they helped undercover the conspiracy. As the Player Characters await the arrival of a vessel to return them home to their university life, they are contacted directly by an old ex-miner, recently retired. Ldok asks them to join him on the slopes of a volcano some five-hundred-and-fifty miles from Dryavis as he wants their help in analysing the sensor readings he has taken, checking the immediate area to determine if it is safe to explore further, and then investigate what he thinks he is found. What Ldok thinks he has found is a Maghiz-related base. The Maghiz was a catastrophic event that occurred two millennia ago when scientists triggered stellar flares that devastated the Darrian Confederation and significantly reduced both its Tech Level and population base. Exact details of the event that triggered the Maghiz are subject of much conjecture and secrecy as the government wants to understand how it was done so that it cannot occur again. There are rumours of Maghiz-related sites throughout Darrian space—and beyond, and all manner of conspiracy theories and absurd ideas have grown up about the so-called ‘Star Trigger’, and for the most part, anyone obsessed with anything Maghiz-related is dismissed as being at best harmless, at worst as a crank. Ldok falls into the former category rather than the latter, but is still respected for his knowledge and experience from working on Spume for decades.

Also respected are the Player Characters. This is due to both their survival trek across the surface of Spume and their involvement in the undercovering of the conspiracy, and it means that the administration will equip the Player Characters with a Survey/Repair G-Carrier and survival gear. This time, unlike their previous isolation on their own original research basis, they are told to get in contact if they have any problems. Ldok will be pleased to see the Player Characters and together they can confirm that he has detected a dense object hundreds of meters below the surface. They will need to blast their way down, but it is relatively safe (though of course, Ldok will break a leg because that is always what happens in this kind of adventure), and after manoeuvring their way down several shafts and through often tight crevasses, the Player Characters will make a discovery. Potentially, an astounding discover—and one that is not at all related to the Maghiz.

The fact that the secret in Ashfall III: Into the Crust is not at all Maghiz-related is refreshing in a scenario set within or connected to the Darrian Confederation. However, the discovery is ultimately underwhelming because once made, there really is no more story to tell beyond a possible incursion by the genetically modified miners making a protest. The Player Characters can report the site and once done, that really is it. The scenario is over and the Player Characters are likely to become famous because of the discovery. However, to offset that, the scenario offers other ways in which to continue the story, potentially to a more satisfying conclusion. They include the possibility that an ancient A.I. or robots start stalking the Player Characters; the Darrian navy could intervene with a squad of marines; and even the discovering of pre-Maghiz scientists still alive in low berths. In the case of the marines, full stats and background for the squad are given so that they can be used as NPCs or roleplayed as Player Characters, the squad being sent down to rescue a group of scientists and take control of their discovery, whilst for the pre-Maghiz scientists, there is list of adventure ideas which the Game Master use for inspiration when it comes to portraying the pre-Maghiz scientists and what they were doing or even develop into separate adventures.

No matter which the Game Master decides to run Ashfall III: Into the Crust, there is plenty of support. Besides the stats and descriptions for the aforementioned Survey/Repair G-Carrier and Darrian Navy marines, there are details for the Tech Level 16 Darrian robot, robot technology details beyond Tech Level 15 for Book 9: Robot, and of course, library data.

Unfortunately, none of the possible endings to Ashfall III: Into the Crust are very interesting. Having an A.I. or robot go rogue and start hunting the Player Characters is a cliché, but perhaps if the Player Characters are truly concerned about getting the information out and in the process, making themselves famous, the scenario could shift to one of survival horror. Yet it does not feel like a natural shift in terms of the storytelling, either for the scenario itself or the trilogy as a whole. Perhaps the ancient Darrian scientists waking up after two thousand years asleep in Low Berths and reacting poorly to the presence of the Player Characters might have been a more interesting alternative. It does not help that the final discovery that the Player Characters is given a very poor map as it does nothing to help the Game Master visual the discovery and relate its wonder to her players and their characters, or being usable for when a very advanced robot goes on the prowl.

Physically, Ashfall III: Into the Crust is decently presented and well written. The only poor aspect about the scenario is the quality of some of the maps.

Ashfall III: Into the Crust brings the Ashfall trilogy to a close. Not so much with a classic three-act story, but with two acts, the first one of anticipation as what the discovery might be and the second one of the fantastic sense of having made an amazing discovery. As to the third act, the climax of Ashfall III: Into the Crust, there is not one given that is really going to satisfy the players and their characters. Instead, the Game Master is expected to come up with something and for the finale of a trilogy, that just seems to ask too much. There are some interesting elements to Ashfall III: Into the Crust, but for an end to the scenario and an end to the trilogy, there should have been an ending, not a toolkit.

Perfidy & Profitability

The world of Spume is hellhole and you definitely would not want to live there. Most of the few hundred that do live on the planet reside in the single dome settlement of Dryavis, where they conduct mining operations via remote drones and vehicles. Outside of the dome, the planet, with its thin, tainted atmosphere, is subject to near constant seismic activity, widespread volcanic activity, and a near constant rain of ash and rocks, all at extremes of temperature and intermittent radioactivity. Located within the Darrian Confederation in the Darrian Subsector of the Spinward Marches, just two parsecs away from the capital and one parsec away from the homeworld, nobody would willing want to visit Spume. Except that the planetary population has risen by a handful with the arrival of a team of scientists from the departments of geophysical sciences and engineering at Idikelin University to conduct field research. Unfortunately, the site designated for the expedition’s base was highly prone to seismic activity and a sudden landslip upended the base and made it uninhabitable, forcing the surviving members of team to flee across the highly inhospitable surface of Spume. This is the set-up for and plot of Ashfall, the first part of a trilogy of scenarios published by March Harrier Publishing for use with Traveller, Second Edition from Mongoose Publishing. As Ashfall comes to close, the Player Characters have managed to make their way to Dryavis and safety.

Ashfall II: Under the Dome is the sequel to Ashfall and the middle part of the trilogy. In addition to the core rulebook, the Game Master will need access to Alien Module 3: Darrians or Aliens of Charted Space Vol. 3, whilst the Central Supply Catalogue and Book 10: Cosmopolite may also be useful. Similarly, access to various issues of The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society may also be helpful, but are not crucial to running the scenario.

For the most part, Ashfall II: Under the Dome is a locked room, or rather ‘locked dome’ affair. The inhabitants of Dryavis, consisting of miners, technicians, and administrators readily welcome the arrival of the Player Characters and even celebrate their survival with a banquet. After that, the Player Characters are free to wait out the period between their arrival and their eventual collection and departure off world as they wish, although they are encouraged to take part in the community life of the mining base. There are mechanical issues to fix, a tournament to participate in, and other events to get involved in. As they go about their daily lives in the mining base, perhaps even spending time preparing their research notes and data (gathered in the previous scenario, Ashfall) for publication, it becomes clear to the Player Characters that all is not well in Dryavis. There is some friction between the old timers and new commers in the settlement, and some between the employees of the five companies that make up the conglomerate, the Pihrund Corporation, that controls the settlement, but most friction is between the Pihrund Corporation and the miners as they suspect that the Pihrund Corporation is operating a ‘fire and rehire’ programme to bring in a new workforce that will accept cheaper wages. The Player Characters will learn of this right at the start of the scenario when a miner approaches them and voices her concern about the state of the Pihrund Corporation’s accounts.

Ashfall II: Under the Dome is not only a radical change of pace from Ashfall, but also a difficult change of pace. The hook is simply not as strong in Ashfall II: Under the Dome as it is in Ashfall, shifting from, ‘To survive, I must march to safety across this dangerous landscape’ to ‘I have reached safety, but someone is telling me her worries about some accounts’. The players and their characters are not motivated to get involved unless they decide they want to. It is entirely possible that the scenario could play out with the Player Characters involving themselves in the community and life of the mining base and nothing more. The conspiracy, as small scale as it is and as nasty as it is, could simply pass them by and remain uncovered and unnoticed. Depending upon how the scenario is being run, this can present the Game Master with a challenge because the hook relies too on player and character curiousity. As a one-shot and on its on rather than as part of the trilogy, Ashfall II: Under the Dome needs the conspiracy hook to keep the players and their characters interested because they have not been through the crucible of Ashfall, whereas as part of the trilogy, Ashfall II: Under the Dome is such a contrast of tone to Ashfall, that the conspiracy almost seem superfluous.

Whether or not the Player Characters decide to investigate the rumours and the accounts of the Pihrund Corporation, the scenario is solidly supported. Besides the description of Dryavis and its facilities, including the mining equipment, there are full write-ups of various NPCs, a detailed explanation of the politics of the mining base, a description of the rules to Pamboyra, or Darrian chess (this is the game for the tournament), lots and lots of rumours to drive any plot or distract from it, and even Occupation tables for the Miner/ROVer (remotely operated vehicle operators) and Technicians working on Spume. The latter allows for possible replacement Player Characters as there is the possibility of their being killed in the scenario. It also allows for the scenario to be run as one-shot with the Player Characters as Miners/ROVers and Technicians rather than as scientists seeking the safety of the mining base after a disaster. In many ways, this set-up makes better use of the scenario’s plot, because as Miners/ROVers and Technicians, the Player Characters would have a greater sense of investment in the future of the mining operation.

Physically, Ashfall II: Under the Dome is a tidy affair. The plan of the mining base is serviceable, but the illustrations of the animals on the base are sort of cute.

Ashfall II: Under the Dome is a scenario with two plot strands, one an amiable slice of mining base life, the other a corporate conspiracy. Getting the players and their characters interested and involved in the first is straightforward, but getting them interested in the other is much more of a challenge. So much of rests on the curiosity of the players and their characters, and for some players that will be enough to get involved, but for others, the Game Master may need to work harder to trigger that involvement.

Secrecy & Survivability

The world of Spume is hellhole and you definitely would not want to live there. Most of the few hundred that do live on the planet reside in the single dome settlement of Dryavis, where they conduct mining operations via remote drones and vehicles. Outside of the dome, the planet, with its thin, tainted atmosphere, is subject to near constant seismic activity, widespread volcanic activity, and a near constant rain of ash and rocks, all at extremes of temperature and intermittent radioactivity. Located within the Darrian Confederation in the Darrian Subsector of the Spinward Marches, just two parsecs away from the capital and one parsec away from the homeworld, nobody would willing want to visit Spume. Except that researchers in the departments of geophysical sciences and engineering at Idikelin University have discovered new properties of certain materials when exposed to the magma of an active volcano and want them further investigated. To that end, it has mounted an expedition to Spume consisting of a planetologist, vulcanologist, seismologist, two materials specialists, and a technician to conduct in the field experiments. The fully equipped expedition will establish a base and conduct field experiments on Spume and report back with its findings within a few months.

This is the set-up for Ashfall, the first part of a trilogy of scenarios published by March Harrier Publishing for use with Traveller, Second Edition from Mongoose Publishing. Together, they form a mini-campaign for six players who will roleplay the six pre-generated scientist or technician characters. In addition to the core rulebook, the Game Master will need access to Alien Module 3: Darrians or Aliens of Charted Space Vol. 3, whilst the Central Supply Catalogue will also be useful. Access to various issues of The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society may be helpful, but are not crucial to running the scenario.

The plot to Ashfall sees the Player Characters arrive on Spume and set up their camp with three possible choices given as to the site. Contact with Dryavis is possible, but limited, and for the most part, the Player Characters will be alone. That is, until they receive a most unexpected knock on the door to the survival dome which has been constructed over the Advanced Base (Pressurised) they have set up. Until the scenario plot kicks in, the Player Characters spend their time conducting field research and analysing the results, having spent some time constructing and setting up the camp. This plays out over several days using the rules given to handle the results of the research. This is fairly dry, and although there are some minor rivalries between the expedition members, as the scenario notes, Darrian community ethic means that means there is much less likely to be inter-departmental or inter-faculty rivalry than there might be within an expedition from a university from the Third Imperium. This is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of a trio of Special Arm agents, who want to investigate the activities of the various academics. Each of them does have a secret, which a player is free to reveal or not during his character’s interrogation, but none of them are truly terrible or shocking. In fact, they are minor at best and reflect the Darrian cultural conservatism at worst. For the most part, the Player Characters will find the presence of the Special Arm agents a distraction from their ongoing work.

The other role that the Special Arm agents can play in the scenario is as a source of replacement Placement Characters. This is because the scenario takes another, sudden swerve which sets up the last, much more challenging third act. This occurs after the expedition’s base suffers a sudden catastrophe in the form of a landslip! The Player Characters have only minutes to get into their vacuum suits and grab what equipment they can before fleeing. Unfortunately, the expedition’s ATV is also destroyed in the accident. This leaves the Player Characters with little choice, but to make their way across Spume on foot. It possible to ask the miners at Dryavis to help rescue them, but contact is limited due to the environment and the equipment at the mining base not being entirely suited to such a role. The last third of the scenario is a gruelling trek across Spume’s barren, cracked, and often venting landscape. Multiple encounters are suggested, through problematically, one of the encounters does require access to Ashfall III: Into the Crust.

In terms of support for the players, Ashfall not only includes the six pre-generated scientists and technicians, but also six sets of roleplaying notes. These have been created using Myers-Briggs type indicators and are intended to be handed out randomly, meaning any time the Game Master runs Ashfall, the Player Characters remain the same, but the personalities are random. That said, not everyone is going to want to use these personality indicators, though if they were, it is a pity that they are not presented as handouts. Otherwise, Ashfall is a technical scenario. There are maps of the planet, a list of equipment assigned to the expedition, rules for handling research, and details of the vehicles used by the miners at Dryavis. There is a list of the personnel at Dryavis, though the Game Master will need access to Ashfall II: Under the Dome for the full details.

Ashfall can be played as is, but it is written to be the first part of a trilogy. There are discoveries to be made in the scenario, after all, what is a science-themed adventure without discoveries? However, these discoveries are dry at best and it does not help that a hint at a potentially interesting discovery requires access to Ashfall III: Into the Crust.

Physically, Ashfall is a tidy affair. The plan of the expedition base is somewhat threadbare, but the illustrations are serviceable and planetary maps decent enough.

Ashfall is a classic survival scenario for Traveller, the Player Characters forced to trek across hostile territory and make the best of what they have with them. This is going to be challenging since Spume is hostile to life and the Player Characters lack the Vacc Suit skill, whilst only one of them has the Survival skill. Which sets up an interesting dynamic as this is the technician, whose role is seen as less worthy than that of the scientists. Although the Player Characters should have remained in the office, Ashfall should be a bonding experience for them and it will set them up for Ashfall II: Under the Dome. Ultimately, Ashfall is a dry, technical adventure that requires a higher degree of engagement from the players in order to get through what is the first act of a trilogy to get to the potentially more interesting second and third parts.

Alone with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition II

Until the publication of Alone Against the Flames in 2016, it was long forgotten that Chaosium, Inc. had published solo adventures for Call of Cthulhu. The two books in question—Alone Against the Wendigo and Alone Against the Dark—were both published in 1985 and although both Pagan Publishing with Alone on Halloween and Triad Entertainments with Grimrock Isle would add to the genre, all were destined to become collectors pieces. However, with the publication of Alone Against the Flames, Chaosium has not only looked at its two solo adventures anew, but updated and republished them for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Both scenarios are lengthy affairs which will take several hours to play through and both make use of the full rules for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. However, a player can play through using either the Call of Cthulhu: Keeper Rulebook or the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set.

The first of the two scenarios originally published in 1985 and now republished, is not Alone Against the Wendigo, but Alone Against the Frost: Solitaire Adventure in Canada’s Wilds. It is the same scenario in essence, but completely updated and revised to avoid cultural misuse and to better reflect the gender balance within the scenario. Now the original version provided the means for the player to roleplay a male or female investigator, but in addition to still providing this, Alone Against the Frost goes a step further by making one of the NPCs who accompanies the Investigator also female. In fact, this is Charlie Foxtail, the Tsuut’ina professional wilderness guide, who is hired to lead the expedition safely into the wilderness. Together with the three other NPCs accompanying the Investigator, this provides a balance in terms of gender for the members of the expedition.

In addition, the format of the solo investigation, so familiar from things like the Fighting Fantasy books and the Tunnels & Trolls adventures, has been adjusted to make the play through of the scenario. Thus in Alone Against the Frost, the player is still reading one paragraph, making choices and making skill and other checks before moving to another paragraph, and then doing it again and again. With most solo adventures, this involves a high degree of page flipping, often from one end of the book to the other—and back again. In the updated version of Alone Against the Frost, connected entries have been moved closer together, often on the same page, to ease the flow of play. Even if the player is given choices which lead to other pages, those choices are placed on the same page for ease of access. At the end of every entry, in addition to the numbers indicating the paragraphs the player can choose from and go to continue the story, is a number in parentheses. This indicates the previous paragraph which directed the player to the current one, enabling the player to backtrack if necessary. Alone Against the Frost is a tough, challenging, often deadly adventure, and a player will find not infrequently find himself backtracking back to a paragraph in the investigation to seek one or more other choices that do not ultimately lead to a result of ‘THE END’ and the demise of the scdenario’s protagonist. Lastly, one element which has been removed in the update is that of the Hanninah Mythos, the measure of knowledge gained in exploring the Big Woods region. It has simply been replaced by the standard Cthulhu Mythos skill.

In Alone Against the Frost, the player takes the role of Doctor L. C. Nadelmann, an anthropologist from the renowned Miskatonic University in Arkham, Massachusetts who is a rising star in the field of cultural anthropology and who has long held a fascination for early North American prehistory, myths, and legends, particularly in the Big Woods region of Canada’s Northwest Territories. At last, Doctor Nadelmann has obtained sufficient funding to mount an expedition into the fabled valley of the North Hanninah in search of the anthropological discoveries and revelations that hopefully, will make the Doctor’s good name. Accompanying Doctor Nadelmann are three gifted and practical graduate students, Bernard Ebstein, Sylvia Davidson, and Norman Falkner. They have also employed Charlie Fox to guide the expedition into the wilderness. All four of these NPCs have their own Investigator sheets and are fully detailed, whereas Doctor Nadelmann requires some customisation prior to play, the player being given two pools of points, one to assign to Occupation skills and one to assign to Personal Interest skills. During play, if the other members of the expedition are awake—or even alive, the player has the option of rolling against their skills rather than those of Doctor Nadelmann if the skill is appropriate.

Alone Against the Frost begins with the Nadelmann expedition arriving at Fort McDonald, preparing to head into North Hanninah, ‘Hanninah’ meaning ‘the river of magical power’. The expedition is warned that the local people avoid the region, including the local guides, and that further, the few white men to have entered it have never returned. Nevertheless, the expedition secures the services of a guide and sets out into the valley of the North Hanninah. Almost immediately, the Nadelmann expedition finds itself in difficult circumstances and constantly being challenged—by the environment, by the local wildlife, and of course, by the unknown. The local guide, Charlie Fox, needs near constant persuasion to remain with the expedition and as more and more dark discoveries are made and disturbing events occur, will urge the expedition to leave North Hanninah. In all likelihood, Charlie Fox will abandon Doctor Nadelmann and what surviving expedition members there are, and flee back to the safety of civilisation.

From the outset, the player will find himself and the expedition in constant danger. For example, within a few paragraphs, the choppy waters of the Hanninah cause Doctor Nadelmann to be thrown into the water and drowned. Returning to an earlier paragraph, Doctor Nadelmann successfully led the expedition into North Hanninah and set up the first night’s camp. Then the weirdness began and… Playing Alone Against the Frost—or at least playing Alone Against the Frost with any degree of success—is simply difficult. Losing Charlie Fox feels like a setback, but as Doctor Nadelmann works his way deeper into the forests of North Hanninah, he will also lose expedition member after expedition member. The effect of this is twofold. First, it takes away the player’s access to their skills, but second, their mostly horrible deaths will necessitate a Sanity loss. The latter reflects not just the terrible nature of their deaths, but also the fact that Doctor Nadelmann, and thus the player, was responsible for their care—and ultimately, their deaths.

There are a great many secrets to be discovered in North Hanninah and a large amount of Mythos lore to be learned in the process. Getting to it and the revelations to be learned will involve multiple attempts upon the part of the player as he attempts to guide Doctor Nadelmann ever deeper into danger through the maze of options and paths. Throughout, the player will also discover particular keywords, such as ‘BAREFOOT’ or ‘BACKWATER’, knowledge of which will grant Doctor Nadelmann access to particular paragraphs that would not have been available otherwise. They are also used as a measure of Doctor Nadelmann’s success, that is, if he and the remaining members of his expedition can actually make their way back to civilisation. And even though this is challenging enough, the difficulties do not stop there. Once Doctor Nadelmann has returned to civilisation, he may face questioning by the authorities, have his discoveries called into question, and more. He may even make a name for himself from those discoveries, but that is a rare outcome indeed.

In some ways, Alone Against the Frost is too challenging. A player coming to it after playing and enjoying Alone Against the Flames, will find Alone Against the Frost a daunting prospect and a grueling experience in play in comparison to the shorter, more straightforward Alone Against the Flames. If the player is prepared for that, then fine, but be in doubt, when playing Alone Against the Frost, the equivalent of the Call of Cthulhu training wheels have definitely come off. If not, then perhaps the shorter Alone Against the Tide might be a better next option after Alone Against the Flames in order to play using the full Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition rules.

Physically, Alone Against the Frost is as cleanly presented as you would expect for a title from Chaosium, Inc. Like the other solo adventure books—Alone Against the Flames, Alone Against the Dark, and the more recent Alone Against the Tide—it is done in black and white. Fortunately, this does not detract from the impact of the adventure’s often monstrous and creepy artwork, although it feels a little odd after the glorious colour and production values of other titles for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition.

Alone Against the Frost: Solitaire Adventure in Canada’s Wilds is different to other scenarios for Call of Cthulhu. Not just because it is a solo adventure, but because it places the onus for the success or failure of the Nadelmann expedition entirely upon the player (and his dice) and it makes the player responsible for the lives—and very likely, the deaths—of four other people. It also enables the player to experience a scientific expedition in true Lovecraftain fashion from beginning to end, its decisions, its discoveries, and more. Ultimately, Alone Against the Frost: Solitaire Adventure in Canada’s Wilds is an incredibly challenging solo adventure which reveals both the dread secrets of the Big Woods and the hubris of scientific inquiry in the face of Cosmic Horror.

Magazine Madness 1: The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Vol. 1

The gaming magazine is dead. After all, when was the last time that you were able to purchase a gaming magazine at your nearest newsagent? Games Workshop’s White Dwarf is of course the exception, but it has been over a decade since Dragon appeared in print. However, in more recent times, the hobby has found other means to bring the magazine format to the market. Digitally, of course, but publishers have also created their own in-house titles and sold them direct or through distribution. Another vehicle has been Kickststarter.com, which has allowed amateurs to write, create, fund, and publish titles of their own, much like the fanzines of Kickstarter’s ZineQuest. The resulting titles are not fanzines though, being longer, tackling broader subject matters, and more professional in terms of their layout and design.

—oOo—

The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society has a long and storied history. The long running magazine dedicated to GDW’s classic roleplaying game of Imperial Science Fiction originally ran to twenty-four issues, before being folded into Challenge magazine. The twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth issues were published by Imperium Games in 1996 and 1997, before appearing as an online magazine licensed by Steve Jackson Games. More recently, The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society was resurrected as a set of six volumes by Mongoose Publishing for the second edition of its version of Traveller and funded via a Kickstarter campaign.

The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Vol. 1 is a one-hundred-and-twenty-eight page digest-sized book, done in full colour and organised into nine different departments which provide all together provide a range of content and support set across the charted space and history of the Traveller universe. The volume opens with the first entry in the issue’s department with the most entries—‘Charted Space’, which covers a wide variety of different subjects. This is ‘SuSAG’, a history of Schunamann und Sohn, AG, one the Third Imperium’s largest megacorporations and one that specialises in biology, chemistry, genetic engineering, and pharmaceuticals, both production and research—the latter resulting in a wide range of closely guarded patents and discoveries. The article provides a history and an explanation of how the company works, both within the borders of the Third Imperium and without, notably the secret production of psionic drugs. It also covers its policies, goals, corporate and government relations, and the major spheres of operation. It is a good overview let down by first by a diagram of the corporation’s organisation that is astounding in its utter pointlessness and second a certain lack of advice as to how to use the content.

The entries in the ‘Charted Space’ department continue with ‘Emperors of the Third Imperium’, a list of the forty-two individuals recognised as Emperor of the Third Imperium. This is the straightforward iteration of material which has been printed over and over—to the point that it can be found verbatim online—and only of interest if the reader is wholly new to the Third Imperium setting. The ‘Vargr Corsairs’ article is more interesting and useful though, examine how the lifecycle of the atypical Vargr corsair band, from ships coalescing around charismatic leaders and growing and collapsing or growing and growing. It is supported by a history of the Kforuzeng corsair band as an example, which should inform the Game Master should she want to use one as an NPC faction and the players should they want to run one! ‘A Concise History of the Vilani’ covers the thousands of years of history from the first time the Vilani explored space through the Grand Empire of Stars, the Ziru Sirka of the First Imperium and the ossification of the empire to its eventual conquering at the hands of the Terran Confederation. It provides a decent introduction to the broad history of charted space and the lead up to the Third Imperium. ‘Within the Two Thousand Worlds’ is more interesting, primarily because it engages the reader in a first perspective, that of the Noble K’agzi, a K’kree diplomat posted to Capital, the seat of the Emperor of the Third Imperium, as he answers questions posed by an interviewer. It does an excellent job of showing how alien the K’kree really are. Last in the Charted Space department and entry in the magazine is ‘Gazulin Starport’, a description of Gazulin Highport and Downport on Gazulin, the capital of the Gazulin subsector in the Trojan Reaches. Accompanied by a reasonable map, the article will certainly be of use if a campaign visits the world, but can also be a source of inspiration for the Game Master too in developing descriptions and details of her own starports.

The ‘High Guard’ department has three entries. The first of these is really only a paragraph, but offers ‘Burst Lasers’ as an option between pulse and beam lasers. The other two are longer and provide two alternative ships small enough for a group of Player Characters to operate. The ‘Soho class Light Freighter’ is a variation upon the Empress Marava Far Trader, refitted to carry cargo rather than passengers in frontier regions and be able to protect itself using a triple pulse laser turret and a laser barbette! They have also been adopted as Q-ships and been employed by pirates as corsairs. The other ship is the ‘Delphinus-class Starliner’ or pleasure yacht. This is a mini-starliner, just one hundred tonnes, completely streamlined and capable of operating submerged in planetary oceans, intended to carry a limited number of High Passage passengers in greater comfort than is standard for a High Passage. However, it has a light hull, energy-inefficient thrusters, late-Jump Drive, and other detracting factors, but it would be suitable for a campaign which focusses on interaction with NPC passengers or as an alternative to the noble’s standard yacht.

The bulk of the departments in The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Vol. 1 have two entries each. These begin with the ‘Adventure’ department. The first adventure in the issue is ‘The Ship in the Lake’. This is set on the world of Hazel in the Trin’s Veil subsector of the Spinward Marches where mineral survey data has been lost following a rebellion. The Player Characters are hired to locate and retrieve the data, believed to be at the bottom of a lake in the wreck of a ship lost during the early days of the rebellion. They will need to locate and dive on the wreck, but do it without alerting either the planetary authorities or the rebels. This is a nicely done adventure which will need some preparation upon the part of the Game Master especially in terms of developing NPCs, vehicles, and the politics of Hazel—in particular, why there is a rebellion going on. The second adventure is ‘Embassy in Arms’, which is set on the world of Aramanx in the Aramis Subsector. Vargr mercenaries, ideally connected to the Kforuzeng corsair faction or band, are hired to conduct an extraction mission from an embassy using air carriers. Again, the scenario will need some development upon the part of the Game Master. Of the two, ‘Embassy in Arms’ is the shorter and will probably only provide a session or two’s worth of play, whilst ‘The Ship in the Lake’ will provide two or three. What is interesting about both scenarios is their preoccupation with low-military conflicts. ‘Embassy in Arms’ in particular is a nod to the Iranian Embassy occupation in the late nineteen seventies and an attempt to conduct a rescue in-game when the one in the real world failed.

One issue is that both scenarios involve Sternmetal Horizons, LIC, a megacorporation specialising in mining operations and manufacturing. No information about the corporation is given in the pages of The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Vol. 1, yet there is a whole article dedicated to SuSAG, which has no support for it. There is an obvious disconnect here and it makes no sense. Why not curate the content so that articles and adventures are connected and support each other? So that the reader and the Game Master are not forced to ask, “How do I use SuSAG?” and “What is Sternmetal Horizons, LIC?”. Now to be fair, the Vargr Corsairs article does support the ‘Embassy in Arms’ scenario to some degree, but the connections between the various articles in The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Vol. 1 could have been given stronger consideration.

Equipment is covered by two departments—‘Central Supply’ and ‘Vehicle Handbook’, both of which have two entries in the magazine. The two for ‘Central Supply’ are the ‘Remotely Piloted Reconnaissance Drone’ or RPRU, a half-metre sized Tech Level 11 sphere, and the ‘Assault Rocket Launcher’, essentially a magazine-fed mini-rocket launcher, suitable for use in low or zero gravity environments. The first of the entries in ‘Vehicle Handbook’ department details the wheeled ATV or All-Terrain Vehicle in all of its variety. All at Tech Level 12, they include the standard ATV, the Large ATV, the Grav-Assisted ATV, and the Aquatic ATV. The second details the Light Patrol Vehicle and the Light APC—essentially the armoured car/scout and armoured personnel carrier. These are both Tech Level 9 vehicles and the type that can be found across numerous worlds. The contents of all four articles lean towards the utilitarian more than the interesting, especially the vehicles, though the likelihood is that the entry on the ATV will add a little colour to a game since that is what many Player Characters will find themselves crewing in adventures.

The ‘Alien’ department has write-ups of two different species. The first is the Dynchia, a Minor Human Race known for their warriors, but for not being warlike, their highly refined Tech Level 12 technology, and possessing an honour-driven, competitive culture which transcends territory. The second is all but the complete opposite in temperate. The Girug’kagh are a humanoid, Minor Non-Human Race which possess full subject status in the Two Thousand Worlds, and who are mainly seen beyond the borders of the Two Thousand Worlds as the translators and intermediaries among for K’kree. As the first species to attain full subject status, they see themselves as inferior to the K’kree, but superior to every other species in charted space! Full stats are provided for both and each is detailed enough to create Player Characters or NPCs.

The two entries in the ‘Travelling Department’ are connected thematically, both dealing with crime in an age of space travel. The first, ‘Smuggler’s Luck’ looks at the means and economics of transporting goods illegally due to their origin or their destination. Along with advice as to good regions to conduct smuggling operations, also covered is the best type of ships to employ, tools of the trade—like concealed compartments and fake drive components with secret compartments, and an example region where smuggling can be practiced. This is the Collace Arm in the District 268 and Five Sisters subsectors, but would need to be further developed to bring into a campaign. The second is ‘Piracy on the Spinward Main’ which examines the means, motives, and methods of conducting piracy in general before identifying several worlds which could double as pirate havens in the Spinward Marches. Both ‘Smuggler’s Luck’ and ‘Piracy’ on the Spinward Main could add to, or form the basis of a campaign dedicated to, or involving, smuggling or piracy.

Departments with fewer entries include ‘Bestiary’ and ‘Encounters’, both of which have the one article each. The ‘Bestiary’ article details six creatures found across Charted Space. These include the Bushrunner, an omnivorous grazer known for its blue meat and musk glands which are prized by the perfume industry; the hermaphroditic Tree Kraken which drops onto its prey, wrapping its arms around it and grinding at its with its teeth; and the Speedspitter, a shrew-like mammal which can spit seeds from its nose and is often kept as pets. ‘Encounters’ details ‘Simone Garbaldi’, an academic and linguist who claims to have discovered the lost works of an ancient Vilani poet. However, opinion is split as to the veracity of the text—are they real or forgeries? It is up to the Game Master to decide and several ways are suggested as to how this NPC might be used. Both of these articles are nicely done and their content would be fairly easy to add to a game.

Physically, The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Vol. 1 is neatly, tidily laid out. The artwork varies in quality, but most of it is reasonable, and the ships’ deck plans are decent. It needs a slight edit here or there.

Now the six new volumes of The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society were never going to contain all new material. It was always planned that they would contain a mix of the old and the new, but the old outweighs the new—thirteen to eight—and in the treatment of the old, let alone the new, there is a sense of appropriation and a certain lack of professionalism to The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Vol. 1. The issue is that although the magazine does list its various authors, it does not attribute individual articles to their respective authors and it does not acknowledge where its various articles have previously or originally appeared. For example, the scenario, ‘The Ship in the Lake’ is by Loren K. Wiseman and originally appeared in Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society 02, published in 1979, whilst the ‘Soho class Light Freighter’ originally appeared in 1997 in the Traveller Chronicle 13, the Sword of the Knight Publications’ periodical. In neither case, is the author or the source acknowledged. (Traveller fandom though, has provided the information where Mongoose Publishing has pointedly not.) In not properly acknowledging either, what the publisher is doing is presenting the information within its pages as its own, presenting it as new when it is not, and taking a degree of ownership that it does not possess. It is disingenuous and it is disrespectful and it is unprofessional.

If the reader is new to Traveller and The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Vol. 1, then none of the issues with the magazine really matter, since its content will be all new. If the reader is not new to Traveller, then the likelihood is that he will have seen many of the articles the magazine contains before, and yes, some do update content to the current version of the rules, but not all. In fact, the new stats are relatively light in the issue. For the veteran fan of the roleplaying game and its setting, The Journal of the Travellers’ Aid Society Vol. 1 is more a collector’s piece than a brand-new Traveller publication. This is not to say that the content is not good or uninteresting. Much of it is good and much of it is interesting, but that is down to the source, not the publisher.

Hollow Earth Horror

To date, Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos, Chaosium, Inc’s supplement of Pulp action set during the nineteen thirties for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition has been supported by not one, but two campaigns. The better known of these is The Two-Headed Serpent: An Epic Action-Packed and Globe-Spanning Campaign for Pulp Cthulhu, a campaign in the traditional sense of Lovecraftian investigative horror. It presented a world-spanning conspiracy, which took the heroic investigators from Bolivia, New York, Borneo, and Oklahoma to the Belgian Congo, Iceland, and Brazil—and beyond! The other campaign is A Cold Fire Within: A Mind-Bending Campaign for Pulp Cthulhu, which although like The Two-Headed Serpent is set in New York and takes place in the nineteen thirties, is very different in tone and scope.

A Cold Fire Within: A Mind-Bending Campaign for Pulp Cthulhu takes place in 1935, ‘technically’ never leaves New York State, and focuses on investigators with Psychic abilities—using the optional Psychic ability rules from Pulp Cthulhu—or have an interest in Parapsychology. It takes two works of fiction as its inspiration. The first is ‘The Mound’, the horror/science fiction novella ghost-written by H. P. Lovecraft for Zealia Bishop, which tells of a mound that conceals a gateway to a subterranean civilization, the realm of K’n-yan. The second is Sinclair Lewis’ alternate history satire, It Can’t Happen Here, in which populist demagogue Berzelius ‘Buzz’ Windrip is elected President of the United States and with the help of a ruthless paramilitary force imposes totalitarian rule similar to the Germany and Italy of the Desperate Decade. Against this febrile background, the campaign draws links between the fringe science—whether Parapsychology or Occultism—and the fringe politics of the period.

Campaign set-up is supported by six pre-generated Investigators. They include a diverse range of backgrounds, from a Russian Cult Leader, an African American female Mechanic/Aviator, and a female Investigative Journalist to a Hispanic ex-Soldier, a female Scientist, and an Explorer. Only two of them have Psychic Talents, but the campaign can be run with the optional Psychic Talents rules from Pulp Cthulhu or without. It also adds a new Investigator Organisation, The Open Mind Group, a hero organisation whose members are fascinated by the possibility of powers of the mind—whatever their source. In general, the organisation is apolitical and politely asks members who are overtly political to refrain from discussing their views or leave.

The structure of the campaign, over the course of five of its six chapters, is linear. It takes the Investigators from New York City upstate into New York state’s Catskill Mountains, and from there, it takes a turn for weird as it plunges deep into the bowels of the Earth and across the sybarite and immortal remnants of the K’n-yan Empire. It begins with a missing persons case, a fellow member of The Open Mind Group approaching the Investigators because Brendan Sterling, her husband, has gone missing. He has a greater fascination with the outré than she does, and this has led him to participate in experiments in past-life regression. Investigating Sterling’s disappearance will first lead them to his links with various populist fringe political movements and then to the scientists who associate with them. Unfortunately, no sign of him has been seen either, and following him will lead the investigators upstate and into the Catskills. From there, the path literally leads inexplicably into the depths and the strange realms of the Empire of the K’n-yan. By now the Investigators will have already encountered some strangeness, most notably their  suddenly being cast into space and having to find their way back—being chased by some very strange cats—and ghosts haunting the halls of a centre for parapsychological studies in what is arguably one of the most bizarre encounters in Call of Cthulhu. These and similar encounters hint at the things to come in later chapters—far below the surface.

What lies below is the remains of the K’n-yan Empire, its immortal survivors divided between indolent sybarites residing in the mouldering towns and plantations, their buildings a combination of gold and weird science, and religious fanatics out in the surrounding wilds. Often cannibals and evilly indifferent, they are not perhaps the worst that the Investigators will encounter for there are surface dwellers other than their quarry down here and some of are looking to re-establish the K’n-yan Empire… It is here too that the Investigators will learn perhaps of the ultimate aims of the campaign’s antagonists and just what they will have to do to stop them. The culmination of the campaign itself is a suitably over-the-top drive further into the depths of the Earth to confront the villains of the piece and prevent their plans. The sixth chapter takes the campaign in an even more radical direction and can be run at any time in the campaign once the Investigators have sufficient means and motivation—even in the middle of other chapters.

As a campaign, A Cold Fire Within does something different. There have been plenty of scenarios for Call of Cthulhu which deal with the Science Fictional aspects of Lovecraft’s Cosmic Horror, but not a campaign. It is very much not a campaign of Lovecraftian investigative horror in the eldritch sense, but rather one of fringe science—or ‘Science!’ and fringe theories ranging from Theosophy to the Hollow Earth. A campaign which sees one ancient subterranean scientific empire attempt to rise again, aided by zealous surface dwellers, as the power and influence of Fascism grows and spreads on the surface world. However, as linear and as straightforward as the campaign is, and as solid a hook it provides to pull the Investigators into its events, the Keeper will need to work hard to keep the players and their Investigators on track and motivated. Especially to the point in the campaign where they learn what is really going on and then have a few more options in what they can do. The Keeper also has a lot of NPCs to portray, there being quite a large cast given the relatively short nature of the campaign. If the campaign misses an opportunity, it is perhaps the chance for a flashforward to see the consequences if they fail to stop the antagonists’ plans—this is only hinted at in the conclusion.

Rounding out A Cold Fire Within: A Mind-Bending Campaign for Pulp Cthulhu is a set of four appendices. These collect the campaign’s handouts and maps for easy copying by the Keeper, new tomes and spells, new skills and psychic power, and K’n-yanian Equipment and Vehicles. The new skills include Lore (K’n-yan) and Language (K’n-yan), and Science (Parapsychology), whilst the new Psychic Powers are Dematerialisation and Telepathy. The section on K’n-yanian Equipment and Vehicles details all of the devices and artefacts which the Investigators will discover in the subterranean world of the K’n-yan and any Investigator with a mechanical bent—especially if he falls into the Grease Monkey archetype—will undoubtedly want to tinker with and repair. Lastly, the six pre-generated Investigators are given.

Physically, A Cold Fire Within: A Mind-Bending Campaign for Pulp Cthulhu is a slim, full colour hardback. In keeping with the other Call of Cthulhu titles, the book looks superb, the layout is clean, the artwork—whether black and white, two-tone, or full colour—is superb throughout, though the cover is not necessarily as eye-catching as could have been. The maps are excellent throughout though, although perhaps the campaign could have benefited from better maps of the Catskill Mountains, New York state, and New York City.

There is a Science Fiction genre called Planetary Romance—best typified by the Barsoom-set of stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs—in which much of the story’s action and adventure takes place on exotic alien worlds, noted for their distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds. Now A Cold Fire Within is not set on another world, but it is set in another world, one which also has distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds in the form of the differing groups of the K’n-yan. Further, A Cold Fire Within is a Science Fiction campaign, involving as it does ‘fringe’ science and strange technologies, but of course against a background of Cosmic Horror. What this means is that A Cold Fire Within is a campaign of ‘Inner Planetary Horror’, one which both proves the existence of fringe science and to the horrific applications it can be put to. 

Charming Chemistry

Compounded: Better Gaming Through Chemistry is a game about chemical research. It is a beautifully appointed, heavily themed game that sees the scientists undertake the roles of scientists competing to complete as many Compounds as possible whilst avoiding the possibility of lab explosions! Originally published through Kickstarter.com by Dice Hate Me Games, it is a set collecting and trading game that can be played through in roughly ninety minutes and is designed to be played by two to five scientists aged thirteen and up.

The theme to Compounded starts with its components. The first is the Scoring Board, which is done as a Periodic Table. It is perhaps a bit fiddly in use once everyone’s scoring counter is on the scoring track, but thematically, it is perfect. Second is its decently written Rulebook, which looks a little like a scuffed and battered chemistry school textbook.

The third are the scientists’ Work Benches. These have spaces for each scientist’s Element Storage Area, Lab Tools gained, and to track the progress of his Discovery, Study, Research, and Lab experiments. Each Experiment can be improved by completing certain Compounds.

Fourth are the game’s Compounds, such as Calcium Oxide, Acetylene, Nitric Acid, and Methanol. Each Compound is a square card marked with a name, its chemical formula, spaces for each of the elements it is comprised of, a spot to place a Claim token, and a scoring value—the latter ranging between three and eight Atomic Points. Others also have icons that grant Lab Tools and improvements to one of a scientist’s Discovery, Study, Research, or Lab experiments when the Compound is completed. Some also have icons indicating that they are flammable and could explode.

Fifth are Compounded’s Lab Key—a wooden key used to determine scientist order and various Lab Tool tokens—Bunsen Burners, Graduated Cylinders, Lab Keys, Pipettes, Safety Goggles, and Journals. Sixth, and lastly, there are the game’s Elements—in ascending order of rarity—Hydrogen, Carbon, Oxygen, Nitrogen, Calcium, and Sulfur (sic). These are represented by coloured chips of plastic. Again, pleasing on the eye and nicely tactile.

At the start of the game, each scientist receives a Work Bench and the wooden tokens to indicate his progress on the Bench. He also receives a Fire Extinguisher card. If this is filled, it can be used to stop the effects of a Lab Fire or saved until the end of the game for more Atomic Points. Likewise, he also receives a Wild Element that can be used or turned in for Atomic Points. He also receives his initial allotment of Elements. Then, sixteen Compound cards are laid out in a four-by-four grid Research Grid. Initially, these will include the yellow-bordered starting Compounds. The Compound deck is seeded with Lab Fire cards.

Compounded is played in four phases—Discovery, Study, Research, and Lab. In the Discovery phases draws Elements from the black cloth bag included in the game. Initially, each scientist can only draw two Elements and can only store four Elements in his Element Storage Area, but both can be increased by three. Once Elements have been drawn, scientists are free to trade Elements—as well as Lab Tools, promises, and so on.

In the Study phase, each scientist can use his Action tokens to claim Compounds. Once a scientist has claimed a Compound, no other scientist can score from it. Initially a scientist has only the one Action token, but by completing Compounds can increase this number to four. 

During the Research phase, the scientists take turns placing Elements on their claimed and unclaimed Compounds. This involves placing an Element of the right type on the spaces marked on the Compound cards. Initially this is just two, but can be increased to six. If a scientist does not have the Elements he wants, he can now trade in three of one type for one he wants.

Lastly, during the Lab phase, the scientists score Atomic Points for completed Compounds on the Periodic Table and adjust their Experiments if the completed Compounds help improve them. Completed Compounds are replaced from the Compound deck. If a Lab Fire is drawn, Flame Tokens are added to any flammable Compounds that have empty Flame icons on them—typically no more than two on any Compound. Should a flammable Compound gain enough Flame Tokens, the Compound explodes and is removed from the game. Any Elements on the exploding Compound ricochet around the Research Grid and will reappear in empty slots on adjacent Compounds—if they have space for that type of Element. 

A game of Compounded ends with one final round once a scientist has either scored fifty Atomic Points or completed three out of four of his Experiments. The game ends immediately if the Compounds in the Research Grid cannot be refreshed to a maximum of sixteen. The scientist with the most Atomic Points is the winner.

This is for the three to four player standard version of Compounded. Included in the game, is a two-player variant that adds a third ‘dummy’ player named Nobel, his actions being controlled by the lead scientist. Another variant, this for three and more scientists, adds ‘Lab Partners’ Compounds, double-sized Compounds intended to be completed by two scientists, who each receive the Atomic Points and its benefits for completing the Compound. They are much more complex Compounds and require many more Elements.

Although Compounded has very nice and thematically fitting production values, it is not quite perfect. The text on the Lab Benches and elsewhere is too small to read with ease, and the wooden tokens to track each scientist’s Experiments and their Action Tokens are a bit small and difficult to use—as are the Flame Tokens. Nor are the phases—Discovery, Study, Research, and Lab—as obviously named as they could be. In game terms, they are ‘draw Elements’ (Discovery), ‘claim Compounds’ (Study), ‘place Elements’ (Research), and ‘score Compounds and effects’ (Lab), but this is not all that clear on the Lab Benches.

Compounded is not a complex game—in fact anyone who has played Ticket to Ride or Pandemic will have no difficulty in understanding its rules and play, its complexity being light-medium rather than medium. The game is also informative, educating players as to both the nature of the research process and the atomical content of each of Compounded’s compounds. Beyond drawing Elements and new Compound cards, there is very little randomness to the game, though Lab Fires can upset many a scientist’s aim of completing particular Compounds. Compounded’s chemical theme is quite gentle, which when combined with its mechanics, makes the game unthreatening in terms of play. Although Compounded’s theme might be said to be rather dry, it is not ‘pasted on’; rather Compounded fully engages in its chemical theme to create a relatively light and appealing reaction.