Achtung! Cthulhu is the roleplaying game of fast-paced pulp action and Mythos magic published by Modiphius Entertainment. It is pitches the Allied Agents of the Britain’s Section M, the United States’ Majestic, and the brave Resistance into a Secret War against those Nazi Agents and organisations which would command and entreat with the occult and forces beyond the understanding of mankind. They are willing to risk their lives and their sanity against malicious Nazi villains and the unfathomable gods and monsters of the Mythos themselves, each striving for supremacy in mankind’s darkest yet finest hour! Yet even the darkest of drives to take advantage of the Mythos is riven by differing ideologies and approaches pandering to Hitler’s whims. The Black Sun consists of Nazi warrior-sorcerers supreme who use foul magic and summoned creatures from nameless dimensions to dominate the battlefields of men, whilst Nachtwölfe, the Night Wolves, utilise technology, biological enhancements, and wunderwaffen (wonder weapons) to win the war for Germany. Ultimately, both utilise and fall under the malign influence of the Mythos, the forces of which have their own unknowable designs…
Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands begins with an overview of Egypt and Libya and its major settlements and locations, including those associated with the Mythos. The most notable of these is Irem, the City of Pillars, here shifted from its Arabian desert location as given in H.P. Lovecraft’s The Nameless City which describes it as having been built by a sapient reptile species. Given the latter, this makes sense, since the major Mythos threat in North Africa in Achtung! Cthulhu is not the Deep Ones or the Mi-Go or the Nazi outré agencies, Nachtwölfe and Black Sun, but the Ophidians or Serpent People. The activities of all of these factions in Achtung! Cthulhu in North Africa are also described as well as those of Section M and Majestic. The main aim of Section M is to thwart the efforts of Black Sun to scour the region for as many artefacts and tomes as it can lay its hands on and prevent Nachtwölfe from finding further deposits of Blauer Kristall that fuel its advanced weaponry. The American Majestic is not as busy in the region, at least not until after the success of Operation Torch in 1942 and whilst it shares some of the same aims as Section M, is not as subtle about it, causing some friction. This does play a little into the stereotyping of Americans in the period, but that does not feel out of place in the Pulp fiction of Achtung! Cthulhu. Alongside the details of Nachtwölfe operations is a description of Adlerhorst, its own ‘Eagle’s Nest’, located in a huge cave complex hidden deep in the Tunisian desert.
The Deep Ones are a major faction in Achtung! Cthulhu, but given the environment, not in Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands. They are relegated to minor faction, and joined by the bloodthirsty Children of Typhon dedicated to Yig and thus rivals to the Serpent’s Tooth; a handful of Free French occultists of the Géo Gras, who loathe Black Sun in particular for looting its lore; the Mi-Go, who may occasionally ally with Nachtwölfe, but have their own alien agenda; and the Eye of Ur, an Italian association of occultists dedicated to transcending the limits of the human form, whose origins dates back to Ancient Rome and whose leaders prefer to play the long game, are obsessed with the Great Library of Alexandria, and have longstanding links to the Black Pharoah, Nyarlathotep himself. They tend to have a Roman-theme, but modernised. They do not play a role in the campaign, but do appear in some of the adventure seeds, plus, of course, their presence makes sense since Italy has colonial possessions in North Africa and is one of the Axis powers. The Eye of Ur would likely play a role in any scenario or campaign involving Italian forces or figure later in the war once the Allies have invaded Italy. Player Characters may find allies in the form of a handful of Free French occultists of the Géo Gras and the more familiar Order of the Alnim, whose members loathe the Ophidians.
For the Game Master, there are stats for numerous Allied, Axis, and occult heroes and villains. Australian infantry, New Zealand Desert Patrol Soldier, an Alnim warrior, and German Afrika Korps troops and Italian forces. The BLACK SUN Krokodilmeister has an Augmented Assault Crocodile bound to him (instead of the traditional hound) and wears a face mask with an extended and toothed maw and a trench coat of cured crocodile skin, whilst the Nachtwölfe ‘Skorpian’ Class Sniper wears a ‘Skorpian’-class environment suit to survive long periods in the desert on deep observation missions whilst armed with an MK89 ‘Auslöscher’ Sniper Rifle. It feels like something out of Dune rather than Achtung! Cthulhu. There are stats too, for members of the Eye of Ur and Serpent’s Tooth cultists.
Of course, particular attention is paid to the Ophidians, the serpentine humanoid species that once dominated the planet millions of years ago in the Pliocene Era and have long been in hibernation, whilst those who are awake consider Humanity to be nothing more than mammalian vermin. This is because the Ophidians are a major Mythos faction in the region and the primary threat in the campaign. Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands details their history, their long term and their current aims, and the effects of their toxins as well as what is known or conjectured about them. The latter is done via the notes, letters, and histories of the late Professor George Linden, found poisoned in his office following a fire that destroyed much of his research. It adds a human touch to the reptilian slant that follows in the descriptions of the various Ophidian villains and NPCs. Along with their bestiary—including several snake types, equipment, spells, and rituals, this aspect of the supplement significantly expands the threat of the Ophidians given in the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Gamemaster’s Guide, providing the Game Master with options in how they can be used both in North Africa and elsewhere in the world where they might be found. The options are expanded because the Ophidians are divided between two different factions, the Atavistic and the Evolved, the former believing that their species should not change, whilst the latter believe that they should adapt to the changing nature of their world. A table of ‘Evolved Powers’ allows the Game Master to customise her Evolved Ophidian threats. Amongst the creatures listed which the Ophidians use is the Gryphon, and pleasingly, the supplement allows for the possibility that a Player Character might actually want one as a mount of his own!
Amongst the descriptions of the various items of equipment and vehicles for all of the factions, there are rules for mines and how to detect them. There are notable arms and armour such as the Dämon Luger, which feels very much like organic gun from the film, Existenz, but looks like a Luger and shoots plasma rather than teeth, and the Aegida Tactical Shield, an energy shield which looks like a scutum when activated, so used as protection device by the Eye of Ur. Lastly, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands adds Robowaffe, one of them a remote-controlled walking tank (so not quite a mecha) and the other, essentially a drone.
In terms of Player Character options, the supplement provides six new archetypes—the Adventurer, Diplomat, Gambler, Guide, Smuggler, and Spy. New Backgrounds include Alnim Mystic and Warrior, Archaeologist, Desert Rat, French Foreign Legionary, Free French Fighter, Greek Sacred Band member, LRDG Officer and Soldier, and Popski’s Private Army Privateer, plus Characteristics such as ‘Blood of Yig’, ‘Called to Mystery’, and ‘Rugged’, and Talents like ‘Evil Eye’, ‘Well-Informed’, ‘Eidetic Memory’, ‘Spray and Pray’, ‘Battlefield Sawbones’, and ‘Hunker Down’. These are a mix of those suited to North Africa, but many can be combined with the options from the Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: Player’s Guide and other sourcebooks. They also enable players to create the classic archetypes of the pulp genre, but also be more inventive.
Being a book of two distinct halves means that Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands warrants three conclusions. One for each half and then the book as a whole. There can be no doubt that the supplement half of Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands provides a lot for the Game Master to use in her own scenarios and campaign. There are plenty of adventure ideas too and a good overview of the setting. However, the map of the region is underwhelming and does not mark all of the locations described. Whilst there are rules for mines and minesweeping, there are no rules for desert travel or survival—at least not in the supplement half of the book. They are instead saved for a whole chapter of ‘The Serpent & The Sands’ campaign. There is no denying that they are the focus of that chapter, but arguably they should have been in the supplement half with the rest of the rules. And perhaps if Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands had actually been divided into two books, they would have been. If that was the case, the fifth chapter of the campaign would have been different, or at least had a different focus, whilst without the campaign half, the supplement could have included a scenario or two that explored the activities of other factions—the Eye of Ur in particular, in a bit more detail as well as one for the Ophidians that could have been added to the campaign.
The campaign in Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands consists of ten-parts and will take the Player Characters west from Cairo and Alexandria to Tobruk and back, as well deep into the deserts and beyond. It is fast-paced, some of the chapters being playable in a single session, and it does have a focused narrative, the Player Characters being directed and driven to attempt and complete a series of missions. So, there is not a wide variety of options in terms of what the Player Characters can do and where they can go in the grand scheme of things. This is the nature of what is effectively a military horror campaign. The Player Characters are under orders. The military nature of the setting means that mass combat occurs several times throughout the campaign and that in combination with the number of NPCs and combatants is where the relative complexity of the campaign lies.
‘The Serpent & The Sands’ campaign begins in classic pulp fashion. The Player Characters meet an old friend, Aisha Aziz, an experienced agent of the Order of the Alnim, in Alexandria and shortly after they meet in a café, she is assassinated. She has time to tell the Player Characters what she came to tell them before she dies, that they should seek the Oasis of the Veiled Moon and a ziggurat beyond, and to do so, should find the Australian, Bruce Taylor, as the time of the snake is high. Going after the assassins leads to a rooftop chase and the revelation that they are Ophidians and worshippers of Yig. As soon as it learns of this, Section M wants the Player Characters to investigate this and find out what Bruce Taylor knows. He is a soldier with the Australian army and unfortunately is stationed behind enemy lines in the besieged city of Tobruk, several days travel west of Alexandria. The Player Characters can get a lift with the Long Range Desert Group and will have the chance to gain some impromptu desert training, before being dropped off and having to get across enemy lines themselves. It turns out that Bruce Taylor is in the guardhouse and facing a firing squad for deserting. He willingly joins up with the Player Characters and his commanding officer is happy to get rid of him. Taylor is a chancer though, so not to be trusted, but the Player Characters have no choice in escorting him back to Cairo, because they need his knowledge.
Taylor will help the Player Characters and he will get them into the Oasis of the Veiled Moon and beyond, but ‘The Serpent & The Sands’ is a Pulp horror campaign and so he will betray the Player Characters. The Game Master should play up his smiling, scoundrelly nature and much like the death of Aisha Aziz, the players should expect it and to some extent accept it as part of the genre. It will follow the discovery of a site of bloody carnage in the ziggurat where the true nature of the foe that threatens the North African theatre comes to light, the release of an Ophidian called Alom Shallar from her tomb. It is at this point that Taylor exits ‘The Serpent & The Sands’, which is a pity because he is one of the few well developed NPCs in the campaign and his absence means that there is no narrative arc for him in the campaign.
Up until this point, the campaign is straightforward and direct. It takes a break in the middle for a long trek through the desert using the supplement’s travel and survival rules, before returning to that style afterwards. Instead of using pre-determined encounters as in previous and subsequent chapters, the Game Master is creating random encounters for the Player Characters to run into. There is nothing wrong with bringing desert travel and survival rules into play, but the way in which it is done in this campaign is problematic. Focusing upon them to the exclusion of all else does not push the plot forward and focusing upon them in one chapter begs several questions. Why were they not used in pervious—and subsequent—chapters involving desert travel? Why were they not included in the supplement half of Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands rather than the campaign half? Ultimately, the inclusion of the rules to the exclusion of all else does not make a lot of narrative sense here, as the Game Master could simply cut them and the campaign would not be affected.
After their trek in the desert, the Player Characters will get to the Caravanserai of a Thousand Fragrant Sighs. Here they can restock and supply, but also discover signs of Serpent’s Tooth cult activity and allies from the Order of the Alnim. These are vital as the Player Characters penetrate the labyrinth of the Serpent’s Lair where the Serpent’s Tooth are performing a ritual. The Player Characters have the opportunity to both disrupt the ritual and learn from the past in clues left behind by Alexander the Great as well as the location of the Temple of Stars. From this chapter onwards, the Player Characters are chasing Alom Shallar and her Ophidian retinue, attempting to stop her from finding the means and ways to complete her ultimate aim—summon the ancient Ophidian city of Sethopolis and establish herself as an important power in the middle of North Africa. These chapters are longer and more complex than the ones in the first half of the campaign, particular chapters involving puzzles and stealth, ultimately to a final confrontation in the depths of the Ophidian city. This is a tough, big battle as you would expect, but interestingly, along the way, the Player Characters can collect some allies—and not the ones that they expect. This aspect of the campaign highlights how in the Secret War of Achtung! Cthulhu, not every Mythos faction is willing to co-operate with any other and sometimes rivalries will push them to find other allies, even ones that would otherwise be enemies.
The grand sweep of North Africa allows us to draw from a variety of themes of images, especially for World War 2. Egypt has its teeming cities and its ancient history and mysteries, whilst the desert has its arid sands and scouring sandstorms, its excessive heat and lack of water. It evokes images of sweeping tank battles, hidden fields of mines, holding out against overwhelming forces as in the film Sahara, driving out of the desert in a Long Range Desert Group Patrol Vehicle to strike at Axis airfields like The Rat Patrol, Tobruk, or SAS: Rogue Heroes, and making the long trek across the dunes, hot and thirsty, trying to get back to Allied lines for one ice cold beer as in Ice Cold in Alex. Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands combines these with the Pulp action of secret oases, strange pyramids, untrustworthy natives—in this case, cultists, hidden kingdoms, and Nazi-punching action of Raiders of the Lost Ark! Of course, ‘The Serpent & The Sands’ campaign takes the “Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?” quote from that film and runs with it. Plus, there are one or two nods to the film throughout the campaign, including a rolling ball trap.
‘The Serpent & The Sands’ campaign is a muscular affair, an entertaining mix of pulp action and weird science. It is not a great campaign, but not a bad campaign either, both solidly straightforward and playable. There are missteps, notably the inclusion of a chapter entirely focused upon desert travel and survival when that should have been part of the campaign as a whole. The Pulp nature of the campaign’s plotting also means that the players do need to accept certain story beats such as betrayal and failure to achieve certain objectives in the later part of the campaign and so set up the final confrontation. The point is the campaign is tightly plotted. If the players can accept that, then ‘The Serpent & The Sands’ campaign is short enough that it will not outstay its welcome whilst moving on the overall campaign framework through the early part of the war.
Physically, Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands is well presented. The artwork is great and everything is well organised. However, it is not as accessible as it could have been, because although there are two tables of content—one for the supplement and one for the campaign—there is no index. It could have done with more artwork, especially for the NPCs to make them better presentable for the players. The campaign could also have done with more maps of certain locations. That said, their inclusion would have eased the running of the campaign rather than being a necessity.
Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands is literally a book of two halves. Arguably, it could and should have been two books, a supplement and a campaign. That would have given the Game Master the choice, to be able to purchase the sourcebook half of the book and use it to create her own content without having to purchase the campaign. Certainly, making it two books would have avoided some of the issues with the narrative of the campaign and made the supplement more obviously useful. However, it is not two books. Nevertheless, it is still a book of two halves and the supplement half of the book is better and more useful than the campaign side. Of course, it is useful to run the campaign, but its contents can be used beyond the campaign. The campaign itself is solid and entertaining, but no more than that. Together, they make Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20: The Serpent & The Sands a good package that has a lot of playable and useful content that expands the Secret War.
