Miskatonic Monday #440: Fallen from the Farthest Star

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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Their arrival in Olympia, the state capital of Washington State, on Monday, August 20th 1877, begins with a bang. Or rather several bangs. As one Native American passenger alights and is distracted down a side street by another, the remaining passengers aboard the stagecoach are subject to a hail of gunfire from the surrounding buildings. Native Olympians pull out their own handguns and shoot back, and when they manage to get out of the stagecoach to look, it appears that their assailants are also Native Americans. The exchange of fire quickly fizzles out and if any of the newly arrived passengers go after the shooters, they quickly find themselves lost in the back alleys and side streets of the city, and before they know it, a gun is in the small of their backs. Within moments the passengers, captured at gun point, find themselves whisked out of the city, as is the Native American who was beckoned to from down an alley. In the chaos, one of the female passengers is spirited away by some men with Russian accents. Anyone left at stagecoach, is approached by a scruffy, oddly mannered man, apologising for the attack, explaining that the Native American attackers are Squaxin, one of many Indian tribes who have long lived in the area of the Puget Sound and some of the tribes have strange secrets. One is a very strange secret indeed. Something important is hidden nearby and they would do anything to protect it. Others have recently arrived in the city of search of the secret in order to take for themselves. The man, who introduces himself as Elwood Candy, tells the passengers that he wants to find out for himself and his employers, but will not say who those employers are, except that they are not the US government.

This is the action-packed opening to Fallen from the Farthest Star. This is also the messy opening to Fallen from the Farthest Star. The scenario is for use with Down Darker Trails: Terrors of the Mythos in the Old West, the official Old West sourcebook for use with Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. Action-packed because it opens with a shootout, but messy because it is written as a narrative and there is a lot going on. In fact, almost too much for the Keeper to track of. The result is overwhelming, and arguably, whilst it should be overwhelming for the players and their Investigators, the same should not be case for the Keeper. Unfortunately, this is no error upon the part of the author, but rather by design. The aim is actually to split the party and for each Investigator to interact with the different factions involved in the scenario, including two different groups of Native Americans, some Russians, and the strangely singular Elwood Candy. The aim is that all together, they will have a greater understanding of the situation they find themselves in, but only if they can get together and relate what has happened to them in the meantime. What this means is that Keeper will be running longer solo narratives for her players than she might ordinarily do so for a Call of Cthulhu scenario. In several of the situations, the kidnapped Investigators will be asked if they have ‘it’. Which they do not, and further, do not know what ‘it’ is. In fact, ‘it’ turns out to multiple things, but the fact that Fallen from the Farthest Star is a multi-MacGuffin, will again, not become apparent until the Investigators are brought together and can share what happened to them. All this requires a degree of acceptance by the players. The opening and set-up for the Investigators in Fallen from the Farthest Star is anything other than a traditional one for Call of Cthulhu and to high degree, the players and their Investigators are being railroaded.

From this point, the Keeper is going to be switching back forth between the Investigators and the groups that they are with. In some cases, the Investigators are held captive, in others they have more agency, but all have opportunity to interact an NPC or NPCs and gain some information pertinent to the situation. There is chance here too, for some good roleplaying. So, what is going on? The Native Americans are guardians to an ancient mind-bending artefact called the Star Egg, that fell from the sky thousands of years ago, split into two factions who cannot agree what to do with it; the Russians are dissidents turned archaeologists and treasure hunters looking for Spanish silver; and everyone else? They answer to their own masters! The Investigators are part of a prophecy said to tell of a growing threat to the Star egg and are asked for their help. As the different factions discover more of the information they need, they will make their way upriver and inland to the site where the Star Egg is hidden. The Investigators are the catalysts here, ultimately deciding how the scenario plays out and who comes out on top. There are a couple of wildcards thrown into this mix and they may influence what happens next. Along the way, there are some entertaining scenes, including one with the ‘Greatest Thief in the World’ and revelations ahoy as to who Elwood Candy’s true masters are and what they are prepared to tell the Investigators.

Besides the NPCs and Mythos monsters, the scenario is supported with information about Olympia, its history and surrounds, plus information about the Mythos tome, El Naufragio de Nuestra Señora de Loreto, that drives part of the story, the various devices that the Investigators might get their hands on, and the alien ship itself. These are nicely detailed. There is also a timeline for the scenario; maps of both Olympia and its surrounds—for both the players and the Keeper; and floorplans for the various locations. The floorplans are period pieces and do vary in quality. The handouts include the colourfully bizarre pictograms as well as NPC pictures (some of which look not a little familiar) and details of two pistols new to Down Darker Trails. Lastly there are six pre-generated Investigators. They consist of a Hispanic gunfighter, an aspiring artist, a soldier, a Native American cowboy, and a dilettante would-be writer. The aspiring artist previously appeared in The Schoolmarm’s Ghost.

Physically, Fallen from the Farthest Star is generally well presented. However, the writing is not as clear it could have been in parts and the artwork for the pictograms cartoonishly contrasts the rest of the scenario. That said, the NPC portraits are all period photographs, as are the maps and floorplans, and they do add a degree of verisimilitude. The floorplans could have been clearer though.

Ultimately, the problem with Fallen from the Farthest Star is the writing. There is a lot of context and background up front, including some decent advice about adapting the scenario to other periods, and a detailed—likely overly detailed—history and description of Washington state, Olympia, and nearby—it throws the Keeper into the action without much thought or advice as how the set-up, let alone the rest of the scenario is going to play out.

Ultimately, the problem with Fallen from the Farthest Star is the writing. There is a lot of context and background up front, including some decent advice about adapting the scenario to other periods, and a detailed—likely overly detailed—history and description of Washington state, Olympia, and nearby—it throws the Keeper into the action without much thought as how the set-up, let alone how the rest of the scenario is going to play out. It is not until after the shootout and its aftermath is there any advice for the Keeper, who is told that the next(!) “…[S]ection of the scenario might be a little confusing.” By this point it might be too late. There is no denying the ambition of Fallen from the Farthest Star, but it really going to need an experienced Keeper to run well with its multiple moving parts, and even then, said Keeper will need to pull some parts of the narrative—the gunfight at the start of the scenario, in particular—apart and put them back together to her satisfaction to have them work effectively.

Miskatonic Monday #392: Calamity in Drywater Canyon

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: Calamity in Drywater Canyon: A Wild West Call of Cthulhu Scenario

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Raul Longoria

Setting: Texas-New Mexico border, 1870s

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-one page, 27.28 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Butchery in the Badlands will lead to blood!

Plot Hook: Opportunities aplenty, but frontier fears face the unwary

Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators, three NPCs, two handouts, two maps, and four Mythos monsters, and a horse.

Production Values: Serviceable

Pros

# Invasion of the cannibal zombies in the Wild West!

# Open rather than plotted investigation

# Can be run using Down Darker Trails: Terrors of the Mythos in the Old West

# Combat focus suggests that Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos could be an alternative rules set

# Osophobia

# Speluncaphobia

# Kinemortophobia

Cons

# Open investigation will careful handling by Keeper

# No backstory for the Investigators

Conclusion

# Hell comes to take a bite out of Drywater

# Rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ brawlin’ showdown against the forces of evil!

Weird Out West

The hunter rides the range, armed with a Sharps Model 1874 rifle in the .50-90 Sharps, a gun big enough to take down Nightcrawlers, the twenty-foot long earthworms that wear the skin of past prey and burrow out of the earth to take down their new. As the vampire-lord looms over her on the ground, the gunslinger loads her last Hellfire round that will surely send the undead monster and its soul into damnation. The inveterate gambler stands up from the table and points at Robo Doc, Joe Bones, of cheating and having a hidden card slot. At high noon, the duellists face off against each other, one ready to pull a Colt Single Action Army, but wondering how much of a threat his Kengu opponent is with its daishō, from which it will draw a katana. The Concord stagecoach rides along its regular route, the bearded veteran sitting alongside the driver, holding a shotgun in his lap, loaded with holy shot lest the vehicle lose a wheel or a horse throws a shoe and everyone be swarmed by the zombies that linger just off the trail. Secret Service agents fly the night skies in their black Zeppelin, ready to respond to descend on the latest threat to the United States. The US Marshal dukes it out with the Hex Gunner that raiding trains all along the transcontinental route, ducking and dodging as the servant of Hell snaps off one shot after another from its demonic six-shooter, the bullets smoking with necromantic energy and screaming with hellish fury when fired in search of more souls to collect and send to damnation! The Risen claws his way out of the grave, bearing a demonic brand on his chest and swearing to take vengeance upon his former comrades who put him in the ground. The frontier of the West might well have once been wild, but now it has definitely turned weird and horrifying. This is not the set-up for one game—though it could be, but a range of options, and more, presented in the pages of High Noon at Midnight.

High Noon at Midnight is a genre supplement for the Cypher System, first seen in Numenera in 2013. Published by Monte Cook Games as part of the Knights of Dust and Neon project on Backerkit, it is inspired by the films Cowboys & Aliens, Wild Wild West, and Back to the Future III, television series such as The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr., West World, and Firefly, comic books like Jonah Hex and Preacher, and even roleplaying games such as Deadlands. It is interesting to see the inclusion of Deadlands mentioned in the list of inspirational reading and watching for High Noon at Midnight, since it is from a rival publisher and it is the obvious roleplaying game when anyone ever thinks of the term, ‘Weird West’. After all, Deadlands was the first to really coin the term—right in its very subtitle—and it has dominated the genre ever since it was published in 1996. So, the obvious question is, “Why even look at High Noon at Midnight when Deadlands is not only easily available, but also richly supported?” The simple answer is, ‘setting versus tools’. Deadlands is a genuinely great, genre defining, and iconic roleplaying game, it is its own thing and its own setting. High Noon at Midnight is not that, but rather offers the tools and means for the Game Master to create and run games in a weird west setting of her own devising. It can do magic, horror, advanced and even alien technology, steampunk, time travel, and so on in the way that the Game Master wants rather than is given. This is not to say that either option of tools versus setting is better or worse than the other, but rather that they offer different choices.

After some explanation of what High Noon at Midnight is, that it is a non-historical treatment of the period and the genre, combined weird, and what that Weird West could be through various other different media, the supplement really begins looking at the tools that the Game Master is going to need to create her own weird west. This includes borrowing from different sources, such as Deadwood or the James Bond films, creating a brand new series based on alternate history, and keeping a setting mostly historically accurate, whilst still being weird. It explores the classic themes of the Wild West, or Old West, genres, such as justice, vengeance, redemption, freedom, and survival, as well as weird themes like magic, magic versus technology, and horror. Throughout there are pointers and suggestions, and tables of options, and this continues throughout much of the book. For example, the ‘Weird West Game World’ table suggests ‘West Mars’, a “[S]parsley settled Martian frontier, six-shooters fire laser rounds, water is as valuable as gold, and terraforming gangs fight for primacy.” and ‘Camelot Gunslingers’ with “Law-sworn knights with long rifles pursue outlaw wizards, despot dragons, and malign fey beings.” Furter tables suggest inflection points when the West changed, how pervasive the Weird is, what the Player Characters do, and lots of plots seeds. The Game Master is free to pick or roll on these tables, or simply use them as inspiration.

The Game Master advice suggests that ‘A little Weird goes a long way’, but gives a lot of Weird for her to choose from. Instead of horses, the Player Characters might be riding water buffalo, lions, ostriches, or even stegosauruses, or ogres, griffons, or hellfire steeds, or jet packs, hover cycles, or motorcycles. There is discussion to, of other forms of travel, including train and aerial travel, and supported by lists of Intrusions—the means by which the Game Master can challenge a Player Character, make a situation more interesting, and the Player Character can earn Experience Points—that the Game Master can use. Options are suggested in terms of what groups might be operating in the weird west, including the law, outlaws, and indigenous groups. Traditional groups include US Marshals and train-robbing gangs, but added to this are weird west groups. For example, a weird version of the Secret Service might use advanced technology or magic to protect the president and other important people from assassination or harm, let alone protect the currency, whilst the Pinkerton Rail Agency which rides five rail cars to protect the railways, he Dawn Rangers, who wear grave-stone shaped badges inscribed with RIP and are known for their arrogance, hunt the undead, and the Skinless Six, outlaws who messed with the wrong treasure and now hunt and gamble for new skins! Guidance on the role of the Native Nations and including the indigenous peoples is also given. There is also a lengthy section on locations in the wild west, from uncanny saloons, alchemist’s shops, and uncanny jails to the Badlands, prairies, and mines, all also uncanny, which provides the Game Master with some great places to set her weird west campaign.

Optional rules in High Noon at Midnight enable the Game Master to run Poker games with multiple NPCs as well as the Player Characters, including handling player versus character skill (necessary since not everyone plays Poker and it is not as commonly played outside of the USA) and resolving a game with dice rather than dice. The Hands of Fate actually adds a Poker mechanic to play, each player drawing a personal Hand of Fate, consisting of two cards, at the beginning of each game day. These cards can be combined with community Hand of Fate cards for various effects. For example, a Straight Flush earns the Player Character a point of Experience, whilst a Full House replaces any roll of the twenty-sided die with a roll of twenty. This enforces the wild (or weird) west feel, but the Game Master can go even further by replacing the need to roll a twenty-sided die to determine the outcome of a situation with a deck of cards. The two do complement each other, but do make play more complex and outcomes less obvious in comparison to the standard Cypher System.

As well as curses and the benefits of telling tall tales, High Noon at Midnight adds several Paranormal Vices that the Player Characters or NPCs can suffer. These are similar to curses, but provide both benefits and banes. Every time a Player Character uses one of the abilities associated with the Paranormal Vice, a Connection roll is made. If a one is rolled, the Connection is made with the Paranormal cause behind the vice and the Player Character suffers an associated Repercussion. The range also increases from one to one to two, and so on, each time the Connection is made, until it reaches six and the Player Character is overcome with the Paranormal Vice. For example, the Drinking Paranormal Vice grants Inebriate abilities of ‘Deadeye’, ‘Hair-Trigger Reflexes’, ‘Iron Liver’, ‘Mean Drunk’, and ‘Unflinching’, which might require a Player Character to throw back a drink or two, but Repercussions might be that the Player Character goes ‘Blind in One Eye’ or suffer ‘Retching Summons’ in which he vomits up a pile of gelatinous goo that animates into a horrid thing! Other Paranormal Vices are gambling and swindling, which either case, gives advantages, but not without dangers of their own.

Threats include environmental ones alongside a bestiary of new creatures and a list of entries from the Cypher Bestiary, which are given abbreviated descriptions in this genre supplement. Old NPCs from the Cypher Bestiary include Gunfighters, whilst the new here include Alchemist, Hex Gunner, and Forgeborn golem. New creatures include the Death Binder, alchemists risen from the dead who invest their souls in the bullets in their Soul Pistols, which have devastating effects, but if the sixth and final shot is fired, so is the Death Binder, so they use their Alchemical Pistol instead; Frostwalkers—compacted snow over amalgams of bone, antlers, limbs, and heads of men and animals who died in the cold; and the Hollowed Ranger, a travelling portal to ‘elsewhere’, formed from an innocent gunned down in cold blood and dumped into a shallow grave, and returned to wreak vengeance on all and everyone!

In terms of character options High Noon at Midnight suggests ways in which classic Wild West characters can be created by adhering to the standard format that the Cypher System uses describe and encapsulate a Player Character. This is “I am a [adjective] [noun] who [verbs]”, where the noun is the character’s Type; the adjective a Descriptor, such as Clever or Swift, that defines the character and how he does things; and the verb is the Focus or what the character does that makes him unique. For example, “I am a Fast Warrior Who Needs No Weapons” or “I am a Clever Adept Who Commands Mental Powers”. Thus, a Lawman could be a Speaker with a combat flavour and a Swindler or Gambler could be an Explorer with a stealth flavour. Seven standard Descriptors and two Species Descriptors are added. The standard Descriptors are Grizzled, Laconic, Slick, Trailblazing, Trigger-Happy, Unforgiving, and Wily, whilst the Species Descriptors are Forgeborn and Risen. The Forgeborn is a figure of metal, reanimated flesh, or similar, often constructed by alchemists as guards, but since been emancipated or lost the desire to keep the alchemist safe. The Forgeborn is tough, but slow, hard to damage, but difficult to repair and knows its own kind well. The Risen has returned from the grave, bearing the sigil of a demon, tougher and able to comeback from the dead again, though not as supple and animals hate him.

Similarly, High Noon at Midnight provides new Foci as well as suggesting those suitable from the Cypher System. The new ones consist of ‘Blazes Paths’ (in the wilderness), ‘Collects Bounties’, ‘Gambles it All Away’, ‘Hits the Saloon’, ‘Rides Like the Wind’, ‘Spits Fire and Lead’, and ‘Strikes Like a Rattler’. ‘Spits Fire and Lead’ combines a love of fire (and possibly brimstone) with gunfighting, whilst with ‘Strikes Like a Rattler’, the Player Character has a supernatural connection to venomous snakes and applies that to his unarmed combat.

There is a full list of equipment in High Noon at Midnight, but more importantly it explains how Cyphers—the means by which the Cypher System awards Player Character one-time bonuses, whether potions or scrolls, software, luck, divine favour, or influence—can be brought into the Weird West genre of High Noon at Midnight. In this setting, there is no one way to handle Cyphers, but it depends how weird the Weird West that the Game Master wants to create and run actually is. Cyphers can either be Subtle, perhaps good fortune, inspiration, an occult or alien concept, a blessing, an ear worm, or the like, or Manifest, such as an alchemical potion, a clockwork device, a demonic scroll, and so on. A Weird West setting can use one or the other or a mix, and it is suggested that there is a geographical limit of Cyphers, Manifest Cyphers being harder to find in more remote locations rather than civilised ones. It also adds Power Words for one of the settings in the supplement as a memetic means of presenting Cyphers both Subtle and Manifest, and describes a range of different Cyphers, including a wide range of alchemical rounds and slugs, and Weird West Artifacts, such as the ‘Deck of Second Chances’, ‘Demon Pistol’, ‘Philosopher Gun’, and ‘Shadow Duster’. In fact, there are more Weird West Artifacts given than there are new Cyphers.

High Noon at Midnight details one setting, ‘The Ghost Range’. This is a Weird West setting, but not a historical one. Magic pervades The Ghost Range and demons, ghosts, and other supernatural creatures stalk its Badlands and beyond, whilst Dustfalls occur at night and can be predicted with some accuracy according to the almanacs owned by certain alchemists. Such Dustfalls are of Stardust, sometimes used as currency, but is mostly used by alchemists in their concoctions and designs. Where exactly Stardust originates and what it is, is the subject of much speculation, but prospectors go out of a night in search of it, knowing that its presence keeps demons away, though there is the danger of becoming mesmerised in an active Dustfall. In millennia past, two mysterious races, the Ilu and the Nihilal, warred with each other, and the Ilu left behind hollow cavities in the earth containing strange devices, weapons of war, and even prisoners still held captive. These are known as ‘Proscribed Zones’, and whilst access to them is not strictly prohibited, the indigenous peoples who on the range and beyond, even on the Moon, advise against it.

Midnight is the only city on the Ghost Range, notably home to the Trail’s End Cantina, where demons, vampires, and other supernatural creatures can be seen as long as they adhere to the Ghost Accords, which keeps them from being attacked. The city is nicely detailed as are the Outer Range and Otherlands which lie beyond its outskirts. In the latter can be found the Moon upon which can be seen a tribe of natives living there and the town of Perdition, populated by demons hiding behind a façade and which stands on Hell’s doorstep. Worse is the Tomb Moon, which rarely shares the same sky and never the same orbit, its appearance sparking off an outbreak of undead activity.

‘The Ghost Range’ setting is further supported by three full scenarios and two Cypher Shorts. They include being formed into a posse and investigating a shootout outside the premises of Midnight’s preeminent alchemist and following the trail out of the city in search of the outlaws responsible; getting involved in a poker tournament at the Trail’s End Cantina and investigating a treasure map; and even travel to the Tomb Moon to prevent a notorious warlock from bringing about the end of the world! The two Cypher Shorts are within the genre, but more generic in nature, though they could easily be used in ‘The Ghost Range’. One sees an undead outlaw return from the grave for revenge against the Player Characters, whilst the other casts the Player Characters as outlaws attempting to rob a train. Both Cypher Shorts could also be run as one-shots or even demonstration scenarios.

Overall, ‘The Ghost Range’ provides High Noon at Midnight with a detailed example of a non-historical Weird West setting. It is an intriguingly different setting that enables the exploration of the genre without of the potential controversies of a more historically based setting. Now whilst ‘The Ghost Range’ setting is well supported with plenty of detail and three decent scenarios, it does mean that there is no space given to other possible settings, so that High Noon at Midnight does not fully showcase the genre with examples as fully as it could have done. This does not mean that it does not suggest other possibilities, in fact, it suggests a lot of them through its many tables of prompts and ideas, but it does not develop them. As a consequence, High Noon at Midnight explores some of the genres associated with the Weird West genre better than others. These are horror and magic, both closely associated with the Weird West genre, whereas steampunk, Science Fiction, time travel, and so on, do not get as much attention. Although ‘The Ghost Range’ is done well, this is nevertheless disappointing and it would be interesting to see these other associated genres given their due in an anthology of settings for the Weird West.

Physically, High Noon at Midnight is very well presented. It is also well written and the artwork and cartography are both excellent.

High Noon at Midnight does showcase the potential of its genre in a well realised and supported setting in the form of ‘The Ghost Range’, but not quite as fully as it could have done. Nevertheless, High Noon at Midnight is a solid introduction to the Weird West genre and its potential with lots and lots of ideas.

Quick-Start Saturday: Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules

Quick-starts are a means of trying out a roleplaying game before you buy. Each should provide a Game Master with sufficient background to introduce and explain the setting to her players, the rules to run the scenario included, and a set of ready-to-play, pre-generated characters that the players can pick up and understand almost as soon as they have sat down to play. The scenario itself should provide an introduction to the setting for the players as well as to the type of adventures that their characters will have and just an idea of some of the things their characters will be doing on said adventures. All of which should be packaged up in an easy-to-understand booklet whose contents, with a minimum of preparation upon the part of the Game Master, can be brought to the table and run for her gaming group in a single evening’s session—or perhaps two. And at the end of it, Game Master and players alike should ideally know whether they want to play the game again, perhaps purchasing another adventure or even the full rules for the roleplaying game.

Alternatively, if the Game Master already has the full rules for the roleplaying game the quick-start is for, then what it provides is a sample scenario that she can still run as an introduction or even as part of her campaign for the roleplaying game. The ideal quick-start should entice and intrigue a playing group, but above all effectively introduce and teach the roleplaying game, as well as showcase both rules and setting.

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What is it?

Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules introduces the roleplaying game of the Undead in the Wild West. The Player Characters are the undead residents of Bardo’s Bluff—Skeletons, Zombies, Ghouls, and Vampires—who have returned to their unlife following their wrongful deaths, whether by accident or wrongly executed for a crime they did not commit.

It is an thirty page, full colour book.

The quick-start is decently illustrated with some excellent maps.

How long will it take to play?
Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules can be played through in a single session, or two sessions at most.

What else do you need to play?
Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules requires multiple six-sided dice.

Where is it set?
Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules is set in and around the town of Bardo’s Bluff, a sanctuary located in California governed by vampires who keep the peace, but there is always something or someone determined to make their lives hell.

Who do you play?
There are four ready-to-play Player Characters given in Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules. They consist of a Skeleton Bounty Hunter, a Ghoul Gravedigger, a Zombie Ranch Hand, and a Vampire Preacher.

How is a Player Character defined?
A Player Character has four attributes—Strength, Agility, Wits, and Empathy—and a single stat, Life Force, plus one or more skills. He also has an Undead Form, a Former Life, and a Wrongful Death. Each Undead Form provides an Undead Boon, an Undead Hindrance, and a form of Healing. For example, has the Undead Boon of ‘Hard Target’, which means that all attacks against it, except at Close range, are at a Disadvantage and the Undead Hindrance is ‘Rattle of Bones’, which imposes a penalty on all Sneak checks because of noise he makes. His means of healing is to use the bones of any dead to repair himself.

How do the mechanics work?
Mechanically, Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules and thus Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG, uses the Year Zero engine, first seen in Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days. To have a Player Character undertake an action, a player rolls a number of dice equal to a combination of attribute and skill. A single roll of a six indicates a success. Multiple successes improve the outcome, especially in combat and conflict. 

If no sixes are rolled, the action fails. However, the Law Master—as the Game Master—can decide that the action succeeds, but with consequences. Alternatively, if the roll is a failure and no sixes are rolled, or a player wants more successes, he can Push the roll. This enables him to reroll any dice which did not result in a one or six. A roll can be Pushed once and any rolls of one on the Base Dice indicate that the Player Character has failed, but with greater consequences as the Law Master determines.

A roll can be made with Advantage or Disadvantage. Rolling with Advantage means that the player can Push the roll, but not suffer the consequences of any ones rolled. Rolling with Disadvantage means that the player cannot Push the roll.

How does combat work?
Conflict in Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules uses the same core mechanics. The rules for conflict cover both ranged and close combat, or ‘Scuffles’, as well as special attacks such as wrestling and grappling, ambushes and mounted combat. The rules are a very cut down version of those available in the Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG core book, so the Law Master and her players will have to adjudicate in more complex situations. Nevertheless, they are serviceable enough.

There are no rules for social conflict and the Law Master will need to judge the use of the ‘Poker Face’ skill on a case-by-case basis.

What do you play?
The adventure in Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules is ‘Showdown at Scorpion Gulch’. A Warmblood bounty hunter comes to Bardo’s Bluff, offering the Player Characters the chance to come to the aid of a recently risen revenant before she has to kill them. They will have to travel north to the Warmblood town of Scorpion Gulch via mystical means and there determine where he has gone, persuade him that they are there to rescue him, and deal with rogue undead who would take advantage of the situation. 

The scenario includes two maps. These are decently done, as is the map of Death Valley

Is it easy to prepare?
The core rules presented in Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules are easy to prepare, especially if the Law Master has any experience with the Year Zero engine. The scenario itself is quite straightforward and overall, it requires very little in the way of preparation.

Is it worth it?
Yes. The Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules are a solid introduction to both its setting and its concepts, which are very easy to grasp as everyone is familiar with the Wild West and likely familiar with the Undead! 

Where can you get it?
The Death Valley: A Horror/Western TTRPG – Quick-Start Rules is available for purchase here.

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Critical Kit will be at UK Games Expo which takes place on Friday, May 31st to Sunday June 2nd, 2024.

Miskatonic Monday #59: The Posse

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

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

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Name: The Posse

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Andy Miller

Setting: Down Darker Trails

Product: Scenario
What You Get: thirty-four page, 29.29 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Cowboys and dinosaurs, oh my! (Again)
Plot Hook: The Boyd Gang has robbed the 11:10 to Santaquin! Let’s ride out and round ‘em up.

Plot Support: Introduction to train robberies, five NPCs, six detailed pregenerated Investigators, NPC and Investigator portraits.

Production Values: Decent.

Pros
# Cowboys and dinosaurs, oh my!

# Sequel to The Last Valley
# Potential convention scenario
# Potential one-shot

# Well done pregenerated Investigators
# Enjoyable introduction to the Lost Worlds genre

# Straightforward plot
# Multiple set-ups

# Classic Wild West set-up

# Action driven scenario

Cons
# Linear plot
# Utah background underused

# Requires The Last Valley

# No Sanity losses for failure?

Conclusion
# Cowboys and dinosaurs, oh my!
# Classic Wild West set-up

# Linear plot