Saturday, September 24, 2022

Pulp Cthulhu - Scenarios - Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed - Review


Pulp Cthulhu (CoC 7e, 2020, 272 pages) contains the supplemental pulp rules and includes 4 scenarios: The Disintegrator, Waiting for the Hurricane, Pandora's Box, and Slow Boat to China.

Pulp Cthulhu is set in the 1930s because of The Shadow and other pulp heroes of that time period. The 30s also means that Prohibition is repealed (Dec 1933) and alcohol is legal again. What's a two-fisted action hero without some hard drinking?

What's different in Pulp Cthulhu?
  1. Character Generation: Pulp Archetype with higher stat for core characteristic (1d6+13 x5), 100 bonus Skill pts, and 2 Pulp Talents; 2x HPs, some new occupations, psychic powers, and weird science.
  2. Luck Spends: There are a lot of new ways of spending luck. The favorite: Avoiding Certain Death.
  3. Pulp Insanity: The Bout of Madness table is more forgiving. Insane Talents, gain a new Insane Talent the first time you go insane.
  4. 1930s: Background and Setting Information. Price charts.
In purist CoC, Investigators look for clues. In Pulp Cthulhu, the clues find you! (and smack you in the face.) So, don't expect complicated clue trails.

The scenarios in my order of preference:
1. Pandora's Box
2. The Disintegrator
3. Slow Boat to China
4. Waiting for the Hurricane

All the scenarios are quite fun and I'd run them again.

Most of my sessions are 3 hours long. Different groups take different times, but my run times are here for comparison purposes. At conventions, I generally book a 6 hour time slot which includes time for explaining the system and a break for food.

I hide spoiler sections with JavaScript. If you have JavaScript turned off, you can skip the spoiler sections I have marked.



The Disintegrator

Time Period: 1930s
Location: near Kingsport, MA (can by any seaside town, doesn't even have to be seaside, just remote)
Pages: 23
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: Demonstration and auction of a new device, The Disintegrator.

Gee, I wonder what the device does?

This scenario has the floorplans for a 55 room, three story hotel.





Waiting for the Hurricane

Time Period: 1930s (1935)
Location: Key West, FL (any seaside town affected by hurricanes)
Pages: 18
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: PCs are in a hotel that gets isolated by a hurricane.

This scenario has the floorplans for a 17 room, two story hotel.





Pandora's Box

Time Period: 1930s (1933-34)
Location: Any large city in the USA
Pages: 29
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: Pandora's Box is stolen from a nightclub, get it back.

This scenario has floorplans for a fancy nightclub.





Slow Boat to China

Time Period: 1930s (1931)
Location: A luxury cruise liner going from San Francisco to Shanghai, China (can be from any city to any city as long as it's a long ocean voyage)
Pages: 30
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: A locked room disappearance while on a cruise ship.

This scenario has floorplans of the cruise liner (8 decks) and info on meals, entertainment, and such, so you can use this as source material for other cruise liners.




Keeper Rulebook - Scenarios - Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed - Review

CoC 7e Keeper Rulebook

Most people forget that in the core rulebooks there are scenarios. In the Keeper Rulebook (CoC 7e, 2016, 448 pages) are two scenarios: Amidst the Ancient Trees and Crimson Letters.

What people also overlook are the excellent Appendices.
Equipment Prices for 1920s (p.396-398) and Modern (p.399-400)
Weapon Tables: p.401-406
Game Summary Rules: p.407-419
Summary of Combat: p.408-413
Combat Flow Charts: p.412-413 (you really need to look at this)
Summary of Chase Rules: p.414-416
Summary of Sanity Rules: p.417-418 (you really need to read this)
Summary of Magic Rules: p.419 (you really need to read this)

Most of my sessions are 3 hours long. Different groups take different times, but my run times are here for comparison purposes. At conventions, I generally book a 6 hour time slot which includes time for explaining the system and a break for food.

I hide spoiler sections with JavaScript. If you have JavaScript turned off, you can skip the spoiler sections I have marked.



Amidst the Ancient Trees
Time Period: 1920s (1925)
Location: Bennington, VT (or any wooded wilderness)
Pages: 18
Run Time: 1 session 
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: A girl is kidnapped and the PCs are part of a manhunt to recover her.





Crimson Letters

Time Period: 1920s
Location: Arkham, MA (Miskatonic University)
Pages: 20
Run Time: 2 sessions 
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: The Dean tasks the PCs to recover the missing Witch Trial Papers.

I love the whole host of NPCs and I've used this setting as a launching point for a series of MU adventures. I think this is an excellent scenario.




Mansions of Madness: Vol 1 - Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed - Review


Mansions of Madness - Volume 1: Behind Closed Doors (CoC 7e, 2020, 224 pages) is a collection of 5 scenarios set in the 1920s: Mister Corbitt, The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse, The Code, The House of Memphis, and The Nineteenth Hole.

The earlier 1990 version of Mansions of Madness included the following scenarios: Mr. Corbitt, The Plantation, Crack'd and Crook'd Manse, The Sanatorium, and Mansion of Madness.

Mister Corbitt and The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse are updated versions of the similarly titled scenarios published in 1990.

The connecting theme between all these scenarios are haunted houses, whether by ghosts or other entities. If you want to run a series of ghost hunter investigators, this would be the book to get. Most of the hooks are missing persons, but the action occurs in the houses the PCs enter.

I'd rank them in my order of preference:
1. Mister Corbitt
2. The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse
3. The House of Memphis
4. The Nineteenth Hole
5. The Code

Overall, all of these scenarios are enjoyable and quite solid. The newer scenarios are more complicated and harder to run.

Most of my sessions are 3 hours long. Different groups take different times, but my run times are here for comparison purposes. At conventions, I generally book a 6 hour time slot which includes time for explaining the system and a break for food.

I hide spoiler sections with JavaScript. If you have JavaScript turned off, you can skip the spoiler sections I have marked.



Mister Corbitt
Time Period: 1920s
Location: Boston, MA (can be moved to any city)
Pages: 30
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: Neighbor across the street is doing dodgy stuff.

Mr. Corbitt is not the same Corbitt from The Haunting scenario. They just coincidentally have the same last name.





The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse
Time Period: 1920s (1925)
Location: Gamwell, MA (near Boston, but can be moved to any city)
Pages: 28
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: Investigate the disappearance of a home owner, determine if he's dead.





The Code
Time Period: 1920s (1925)
Location: Hampton, NY (can be moved to a rural or suburban location)
Pages: 34
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: A friend has made an amazing scientific discovery and needs your help.





The House of Memphis
Time Period: 1920s (1927)
Location: Boston, MA (can be moved to any city that can support a large entertainment industry such as Hollywood)
Pages: 40
Run Time: 2 sessions
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: Investigate the disappearance of Memphis the Great, a stage magician.





The Nineteenth Hole
Time Period: 1920s (1928)
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Pages: 37
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: None
Hook: Investigate the disappearance of the owner of a golf club.



Friday, September 23, 2022

Petersen's Abominations - Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed - Review


Petersen's Abominations: Five Epic Tales of Modern Horror (CoC 7e, 2017, 200 pages) is a collection of 5 scenarios that were created as one-shots for convention games by Sandy Petersen.

To see how Sandy creates scenarios, you can watch this video: GenCon 2018.

The problem with these scenarios is that they were built as one-shots with pre-generated PCs. The scenarios are designed to be dangerous and deadly. The likelihood of a PC surviving can be low and you cannot drop these into any existing campaign as it'll chew up your PCs and spit them out.

If you like more complicated scenarios (which I do), then I recommend Panacea and Voice Over the Phone.

Hotel Hell, The Derelict, and Mohole are more straight forward.

Overall, I found the scenarios are ok for what they are.

Most of my sessions are 3 hours long. Different groups take different times, but my run times are here for comparison purposes. At conventions, I generally book a 6 hour time slot which includes time for explaining the system and a break for food.

I hide spoiler sections with JavaScript. If you have JavaScript turned off, you can skip the spoiler sections I have marked.



Hotel Hell
Era: Modern
Location: British Columbia, Canada (wilderness)
Pages: 27
Run Time: 2 sessions
Pre-Gens: New hotel owner and buddies
Hook: You've inherited an old hotel out in nowhere and want to renovate it and make it a destination resort, but this being a money pit is the least of your worries.





The Derelict
Era: Modern
Location: Icy North Atlantic Ocean
Pages: 21
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: Various rich and famous people
Hook: You're on a luxury yacht sailing the icy Atlantic and find an abandoned cargo ship.

This scenario was originally published as a Free RPG scenario in 2016.





Panacea
Era: Modern
Location: Dallas, Texas (or any large city in USA)
Pages: 31
Run Time: 1 session
Pre-Gens: Various normal people
Hook: You're at a house party, celebrating a miracle cure, and things get out of hand.





Mohole
Era: Modern
Location: North Sea drilling rig
Pages: 35
Run Time: 2 sessions
Pre-Gens: Various scientists and engineers
Hook: You're a 3rd party observation team sent to audit a drilling platform.

Project Mohole is for real. Wikipedia entry.
Russian's Kola Superdeep borehole: Wikipedia entry.
Article about digging super deep: BBC article.





Voice Over the Phone
Era: Modern
Location: Dallas, Texas (or any large city in USA)
Pages: 29
Run Time: 2 sessions
Pre-Gens: Gang members
Hook: Previous gang members have created their own gang and started a turf war. Stop them.




Thursday, September 22, 2022

Doors to Darkness - Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed - Review


Doors to Darkness (CoC 7e, 2016, 144 pages) is a collection of 5 scenarios slated for beginner GMs because the scenarios are easy to run and don't contain red herrings to lead your Players astray. The first chapter is 7 pages of GM tips. All the scenarios are set in the 1920s. The book has 10 pre-generated PCs that can be used in any of the scenarios.

I've run all the scenarios and some multiple times at various conventions.

I'd rank the scenarios in order of preference:
1. Genius Loci
2. Ties That Bind
3 (tie). Servants of the Lake
3 (tie). None More Black
5. The Darkness Beneath the Hill

Overall, I recommend the scenarios. Though it is aimed for beginner GMs, it doesn't mean it's only for beginner Players, veteran Players would enjoy these scenarios also.

Most of my sessions are 3 hours long. Different groups take different times, but my run times are here for comparison purposes. At conventions, I generally book a 6 hour time slot which includes time for explaining the system and a break for food.

I hide spoiler sections with JavaScript. If you have JavaScript turned off, you can skip the spoiler sections I have marked.




The Darkness Beneath the Hill
Time Period: 1920s
Location: Providence, Rhode Island
Pages: 21
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: A friend invites you to visit his newly inherited house.

My least favorite scenario of the 5. I probably will never run this one again.





Genius Loci
Time Period: 1920s (1925)
Location: Danvers State Hospital, Massachusetts
Pages: 21
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: A friend, a patient, at the Danvers State Lunatic Asylum sends you a letter asking for help.

My favorite scenario in the book. The only drawback is that a map of Danvers State Hospital isn't included in the scenario. Luckily there's a website where the GM can look up all this material. I've put a link in the spoiler section for the GM.





Servants of the Lake
Time Period: 1920s
Location: Squatters Lake, Massachusetts (can be tied to Miskatonic University scenarios)
Pages: 20
Run Time: 1 session
Hook: A student from MU has disappeared on route to Kingsport.





Ties That Bind
Time Period: 1920s
Location: Ipswich, Massachusetts (can be tied into Miskatonic University scenarios)
Pages: 20
Run Time: 2 sessions or a 6 hr convention slot
Hook: PCs are asked to investigate a case of vandalism and strange stones left behind.





None More Black
Time Period: 1920s
Location: Arkham, Massachusetts (can be tied to Miskatonic University scenarios)
Pages: 15
Run Time: 2 sessions
Hook: A student at MU has died.