Miskatonic Monday #311: Lights in the Trees

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.

—oOo—

Name: Lights in the Trees

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Matt ‘Doc’ Tracey

Setting: New York, 1975

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Forty-three page, 19.46 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: War is hell and so are the memories

Plot Hook: A war buddy is dead. Was it natural causes or...?

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Veterans, four handouts, one map, seven NPCs, and one Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Archetypal memory & Mythos scenario for Call of Cthulhu

# Solid period feel

# Classic atmosphere of seventies paranoia

# Xylophobia

# Mnemophobia

# Mycophobia

Cons

# Obvious inspiration may be too obvious

# Needs a slight edit

Conclusion

# Decently done period feel

# Archetypal Call of Cthulhu scenario of paranoia and uncertain memory set in the most paranoid decade

Miskatonic Monday #295: A Sliver of Starlight

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 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.

—oOo—

Name: A Sliver of Starlight

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Daniel Chadborn

Setting: New York State, 1983

Product: Weird Haunted House One-Shot
What You Get: Forty-five page, 7.19 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “If you want to see an endangered species, get up and look in the mirror.” – John Young

Plot Hook: A haunted house (or inspiration) attracts the all too curious.

Plot Support: Staging advice, two NPCs, four pre-generated Investigators, and twelve handouts.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Multiple set-up options

# Decently done clues and events

# Easily shifted to other locations

# Staged, step-by-step plot

# Easy to adjust to other eras and locations

# Oikopobia

# Eisoptrophobia

# Trypophobia

Cons

# Maps could have been better and clearer

# Needs an edit

# Staged, step-by-step plot

Conclusion

# Clues and events engagingly unsettle the investigation

# Staged, step-by-step haunted house plot that leads elsewhere (and back again)

Revenants Return And Return Again

Beyond death there is a place of waiting, somewhere between the world of the living and the afterlife. This is Limbo and were it not for the fact that it is staffed by demons and ghouls, you would be hard-pressed to mistake it for anything other than a dentist’s waiting room, complete with beige walls and magazines and newspapers on the table. You are dead, but according to Greta, the administrative demon working your case file, not ready to pass on to wherever the soul goes to. You have a task to resolve. Perhaps you need to bring your own killer to justice, prevent an unexpected death, or complete some other unfinished business. Doing so will stop a Shattering Event that would otherwise trap you here permanently, and prevent you from passing on. Yet you only have limited time—four nights, each night awaking to find yourself back where you started—before that Shattering Event occurs and when you return you are still dead. Dead as the day your corpse was committed to the grave or left to rot undiscovered and missing. Thus, you must navigate the world of the living in the shadows as the undead, swathed in perfumes to hide the stench of decay and formaldehyde and wreathed in clothes to hide the signs. Worse, your memories have been disrupted and broken by your passing, and only by recovering what you cannot recall will come closer to preventing the Shattering Event. You are a Revenant and you have four nights in which to explore the last days of your life and stop the Shattering Event.

This is the set-up for The Revenant Society: The Endless Loop Beneath the City, a roleplaying game designed by Banana Chan and Sen-Foong Lim—best known for the highly regarded Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall from Wet Ink Games—and Julie Ahern. Published by Van Ryder Games, a company better known for its Final Girl and Hostage Negotiator board games, following a successful Kickstarter campaign, it is designed to be played by two to four players, plus a Fate Weaver (as the Game Master is known), aged fourteen and over. It is also a storytelling style game, using Powered by the Apocalypse, which can be played as a one-shot or as a mini-campaign of four, up to four-hour sessions. The core rulebook for The Revenant Society: The Endless Loop Beneath the City contains six scenarios that will play out in La Belle Époque Paris at the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth, or in Jazz Age New York, which play out in and around the Paris Métro and the New York Subway.

The Revenant Society: The Endless Loop Beneath the City Deluxe Box Set includes not just the core rulebook, but also a Fate Weaver Screen, maps of both Paris and New York, a Map of Intrigue for tying NPCs together, maps, a Loop Board, and six Playbook Boards. The Fate Weaver Screen lists the Fate Weaver’s Hard and Soft Moves, a Loop Event Generator, an NPC Generator, and a Location Generator. The maps of both Paris and New York are marked with their respective underground stations, whilst the Loop Board tracks the time clocks, events, and questions for the four Loops. It is double-sided, one side for a One-Shot, the other for a Mini-Campaign Loop. The six Playbooks are also double-sided and consist of ‘The Grizzled’, ‘The Compassionate’, ‘The Philosophical’, ‘The Diplomatic’, ‘The Hopeful’, and ‘The Glamourous’. Each of the Playbooks list the stats, Moves, and more, as well as having space for the player to fill out his Revenant’s background. Both the Playbooks and the Loop Board are write on/wipe off and The Revenant Society: The Endless Loop Beneath the City Deluxe Box Set comes with several pens suitable for that purpose. There are also miniatures for the Watchers, the supernatural creatures who will dog the efforts of the Revenants and a Team Miniature used to track the progress of the players and their Revenants across the four Loops. The thirty or so Memory cards, many of them period photographs, will be used by the players to prompt their Revenants’ memories.

A Revenant in The Revenant Society looks similar to other Playbooks in Powered by the Apocalypse roleplaying games. He has four Stats—Resolve, Nerve, Calm, and Vigour—ranging between -1 and +2, and a set of four Moves. For example, ‘The Grizzled’ has ‘Browbeat’ for coercing answers out of an NPC, ‘Supernatural Strength’ when using his extreme physical strength, ‘Body Part Substitution’ for replacing a part of his body with an item to reduce damage taken, and ‘Clumsy Brawler’ for fighting. ‘Body Part Substitution’ is the Undead Move for ‘The Grizzled’ and each Revenant has its own Undead Move. Beyond this, a Playbook has a lot of background details that the player fills in during preparation for play. The only mechanical choice that a player makes is to choose a beginning Move. The other choices he needs to make deal with his background and relationships with the other characters. All six of the Playbooks are built on archetypes and inspired by film and media. For example, ‘The Hopeful’ is either a factory worker, a hairdresser, or a telephone operator, and is inspired by the anti-nihilist and fool tropes, Waymond Wang from Everything, Everywhere, All At Once and Phil at the end of Groundhog Day.

The four Moves inherent to each Playbook are not the only Moves a Revenant has access to. Basic Moves include ‘Investigate’, ‘Blend In’, ‘Persuade’, ‘Struggle’, ‘Flee’, and ‘Dirt Nap’, and ‘Saving Grace’. ‘Dirt Nap’ is used when a Revenant wants to rest, whilst ‘Saving Grace’ is for helping another Revenant. There are also two Team Moves, ‘Burn This City’ and ‘Take Them Out’, which can only be performed when all of the Revenants are in the same location. They are drastic in nature, the first seeing the Revenants create a supernatural fire to disrupt the situation, the latter having the Revenants open a door to Limbo and push an NPC through and so kill them. The Fate Weaver has her own Moves, split between Hard Moves and Soft Moves. Both are designed to push the narrative along and might be to add a Watcher when a player rolls high on a Move, pass out a clue when a player is stumped, restart a Loop, and so on. Like the Revenants, Watchers have returned from Limbo, but they take pleasure in the Revenants’ failure. There can be up to four of these faceless creatures in play, their presence acting as a penalty on all dice rolls made by the Revenants and also highlighting the undead nature of the Revenants to the living.

Mechanically, The Revenant Society works like other Powered by the Apocalypse roleplaying games. A player chooses the Move he wants his Revenant to use, rolls two six-sided dice, and adds a Stat to the result. If a Revenant is at a location where he worked, he instead rolls three dice and chooses the highest results. On a result of six or less, the Revenant fails, and may take damage, but will gain a point of Experience; on a result of seven, eight, or nine, the action is a success and the player can choose one of the options listed for the Move; and on ten or more, the action is a higher success, and the player can select two options. However, a roll of ten or more also adds a Watcher to the Loop. Effectively, failure rewards a Revenant with a chance to learn, whereas a higher success grants greater benefits, but may attract the attention of the Watchers—some Moves include an option to not have a Watcher appear.

Set-up for The Revenant Society sees the Fate Weaver seed the Loops with Events and clues, some of which are Red Herrings, for the Revenants to discover. These can ones of a mystery that the Fate Weaver can create herself or one of the six included in The Revenant Society. Notably, these are seeded across only six locations across the Paris Métro or the New York Subway, the rest marked as under construction and inaccessible. This effectively focuses play, at least in a geographical sense. In Session Zero, the Fate Weaver introduces the game, sets expectations and responsibilities—both of which are neatly set out for Fate Weaver and players alike, sets the scene in Limbo, and then the players introduce their Revenants and fill out their Playbooks.

Play then begins with the Revenants awaking in the Subway or Métro. In the first Loop, the Revenants awake to find themselves in the dirt of a tunnel with a train bearing down on them, armed with only one Memory card. They will also have an Item card, representing an object that they will always wake up with at the start of a Loop. Their reaction, typically to use the ‘Flee’ Move, is designed to teach the roleplaying game’s mechanics. In subsequent Loops, the Revenants will awake in different locations around the underground. The Revenants will then proceed to explore the Location they are in, looking for Clues and responding to Loop Events and Fixed Events. Whenever they employ a Move—either Basic, Undead, or Team—they fill out a segment on the Clock for the Location. The number of segments on the Clock will vary according to the number of Revenants, but when the Clock is filled out, the Revenants move on to a new Location, a two-hour window of time, and a fresh Clock. This is done collectively. The Revenants cannot split up to go to different Locations, but they can split up to explore a Location. When they reach the end of a Loop, whether because time has run out or because a Revenant has taken too much damage, the Loop begins again. Although it starts in a different place under different circumstances, as the Revenants explore this Loop they encounter new Loop Events, but also Fixed Events that do not change from Loop to Loop. In effect, each Loop is a chance to reset the investigation and let the Revenants start again with the information they have found out so far and then go look for new clues. At the start of each Loop each Revenant will also have new Memory cards that will trigger further questions about who they are. As the Revenants explore Locations and look for Clues, the Fate Weaver will be keep track of both them and the connections between the various NPCs, one of whom will be the Culprit. The Map of Intrigue is used to record the connections where everyone can see and ultimately help the Revenants and their players identify the Culprit.

The investigation of a case should ideally culminate in the revelation as to who the Culprit is and the Revenants acting to stop him and so prevent the Shattering Event. Whatever happens, whether they stop either or not, the players have the opportunity to explain what happens to their Revenants. If they succeeded, are they are at peace and do they move on to the Afterlife? If they failed, what happens to them trapped endlessly in the Loop? There is even a possibility of setting up a sequel, so that the Revenants return to Limbo in readiness to go through another Loop, attempting to stop another Shattering Event.

For both players and the Fate Weaver, there is solid advice on safety—particularly at beginning and end of a session, content warnings—in general and for each scenario, and the tools necessary to play. The Revenant Society: The Endless Loop Beneath the City Deluxe Box Set includes an X-Card and an O-Card. The Fate Weaver there is background on both La Belle Époque Paris and Jazz Age New York, including both history and details of important locations in and around the Paris Métro and the New York Subway. There are notes on post-World War I Paris, but sadly not on pre-World War I New York. Over a third of The Revenant Society is dedicated to scenarios or cases, three per city, plus advice for the Fate Weaver on creating her own. They include the Revenants trying to find out how they died and how those deaths are related to a cult, to a fire, to an assassination, and so on. Each case clearly lists the objective for the Revenants, events at the start of each Loop, locations, the identity of the Culprit, the nature of the Shattering Event, and the various Clues and Events particular to that Loop. There is also a good guide for the Fate Weaver who wants to create her own cases, whilst the Appendix contains all of the roleplaying game’s printable content as well as the maps, Memory cards, and various Fate Weaver Moves for easy reference.

Physically, The Revenant Society is a lovely book, illustrated with period photographs and other images combined with an Arts Décoratifs—or Art Deco—style. All of the extras, including the dice—in The Revenant Society: The Endless Loop Beneath the City Deluxe Box Set adhere to this style and are lovely. If The Revenant Society is missing anything it is an index and that is a major omission. A lesser omission, but one that would have been helpful, would have been an example of play.

The Revenant Society: The Endless Loop Beneath the City is a collaborative storytelling game, one of horror and tragedy and contrasts. Contrasts between the Living and the undead nature of the Revenants, and between the joie de vivre swirling around the Revenants and the grim nature of their task, all hidden behind a gilded façade of its very lovely period feel. In prior years, a storytelling game like The Revenant Society might have been self-published as a smaller book, a la indie style, but in this larger format, The Revenant Society has room to breath and cast more light onto the darkness of the Loops that the Revenants find themselves trapped within and what they need to do to escape. The result is that The Revenant Society: The Endless Loop Beneath the City is a rich and grimly atmospheric, yet familiar roleplaying game, telling a type of story we have seen before, but where the players and their Revenants are telling it working together with the Fate Weaver.

Miskatonic Monday #277: Hail to the King

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 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.

—oOo—

Name: Hail To The King

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Marco Carrer

Setting: New York State, 1989

Product: One-on-One Scenario
What You Get: Nine page, 448.60 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “Modern music is as dangerous as narcotics.” – Pietro Mascagni

Plot Hook: This is one rare record you won’t want to rave about

Plot Support: Staging advice, one pre-generated Investigator, and four NPCs.

Production Values: Untidy.

Pros

# One Investigator, one session scenario

# Easy to adapt to other modern time periods with recorded sound

# Straightforward investigation

# Melophobia

# Hemophobia

# Pharmacophobia

Cons

# Needs a good edit

# Linear

# Needs an opposition to mix up its noir nods and make it a MacGuffin hunt

Conclusion

# Seedy, direct investigation that feels just a bit too easy

# Tell, me have you heard the Yellow Sign?

Miskatonic Monday #244: The Worm of Wall Street

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 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.

—oOo—

Name: The Worm of Wall Street

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Paul StJohn Mackintosh

Setting: Modern day New York

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-four page, 25.79 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Hedge Fund Horror!

Plot Hook: A Wall Street flash crash triggers an investigation into a hedge fund which stands untouched.
Plot Support: Staging advice, eight pre-generated Investigators, two NPCs, two maps and floor plans, one Mythos tome, and two Mythos creatures.

Production Values: Serviceable

Pros

# Intriguing, novel setting

# Simple, straightforward one-shot

# Easy to adapt to other time periods

# Feels very eighties

# Possible links to Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, Lovecraft Country, and Keziah Mason

# Scoleciphobia

# Kinemortophobia

# Anthropophagusphobia

Cons

# Needs an edit

# No pre-generated Investigator backgrounds

# Keeper will need to generate Investigator links and motivations

Conclusion

# Solid, eighties-style Hedge Fund Horror on Wall Street

# Unique location with surprisingly timely plot

Neon City Nights

He eased the collar of his coat and shook the snyth-sheet he was reading free of the rain. It was always raining in Neo-York, and the ink flowed off the front page followed by the rain. It was okay. He could read the latest news later. He just wanted to look busy whilst keeping an eye on his charges, Michael Iannelli, and his latest girl, whatever her name was. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that Michael’s mother, Eleonara, supposed de facto co-boss of the Iannelli Neo-Costra crime family with her sister, Sebastiana, wanted him watched and did not want her family involved. So here he was, standing under the ever-present neon of Neo-York at a Faux-Fish Noodles Shack, getting stiffed on the fish, and wishing it was not raining. But then it was always raining in Neo-York and only rich people like Eleonara Iannelli got to see the sun. Which didn’t explain why Michael was slumming it in New Beale with his new girl, whatever her name was. Except maybe Michael was heading for Pod’s and Jerry’s for an evening of Synth Jazz, which was okay by him, because he and his keys had a gig there tonight. A bullhorn in a Jumper buzzed overhead, mostly here just to say the Neo York Police Department is always on or over the streets, and maybe make any tourists feel safe.

The Dumb-Box on his wrist buzzed. His food was on the counter—not enough fish and the noodles were stiff. It was enough to distract him before a voice chimed in his head—“Nathan. Michael is in danger.” He looked up in response his Net-Box’s warning, his AR Glasses highlighting in flashing red two figures running towards the Iannelli scion. Details scrolled alongside the highlighted figures. They were bioroids. Good ones and nobody traded in better bioroids than the Iannelli Neo-Costra crime family. Which raised a question that right now he had no time to ask. He pulled a gun. Eleonara made him carry it, so when this was all over, he hoped her family’s money had made it legit. It felt wrong in his hand, heavy and shiny in the rain. He hoped the recoil when he plugged the two bioroids running for his charge was not going to jar his fingers. He needed them for the keys at the Synth Jazz gig tonight. The rounds would not kill the bioroids. That was his deal for carrying the gun. Plus stunned, Eleonara Iannelli could get family muscle to persuade the bioroids to talk or track them. That was not part of his gig. His gig was being the coolest Synth Jazz cat in downtown New Beale for one more night…

This could be a scene from Crescendo of Violence: A Neon-Noir Roleplaying Game set in the near future of Neo York, 2093. A giant megapolis and technological marvel floating off the North American coast in world that has undergone ecological collapse and widespread flooding, tamed but only limited the overreach of the megacorporations, and seen the widespread adoption of cybernetics, Augmented Reality, and WETnet wireless energy and information networks, and granted rights to Clones and Bioroids. Neo York is a city of holographic neon and rain, of crime and corruption, of wealth and politics. Gilded mob bosses, flashy CEOs, and famous vid-stars hold sway as the masses live a life above the breadline—but not too far above it, the wealth of the richest top percent buying themselves security and the promise that the cops will look the other way. In between, there are men and women, bioroids and clones, who work in the glare of the neon rather than bask in it, down the grime and filth of the streets which the constant rain never washes away. Gangsters seeking redemption, hackers trying to reveal a truth, holo-stars with a secret to hide, the good cop in a corrupt system, the gene-modded musician trying to make it big, the suit who wants to see her corporation do some good, the ex-soldier who gets drawn into a situation he wanted to avoid… All these stories and more can be told as the Synth Jazz plays in Neo York.

Crescendo of Violence: A Neon-Noir Roleplaying Game is published by Osprey Games. It is a neo-noir—or rather a neon noir—roleplaying game which combines Casablanca with Le Samouraï, Blade Runner with Bird, and Hard Boiled with Ghost in the Shell. It incorporates elements of the cyberpunk genre too, but is not specifically about its anti-capitalist themes, the corporations having been tamed through a series of wars that prevented them from taking over nations—including the United Kingdom. Rather it is narrative roleplaying game that combines the heroic cinematic action of John Woo with the style and tone of Film Noir and hardboiled detective stories under a neon pall and to a Synth Jazz soundtrack.

A Player Character in Crescendo of Violence is defined by eight Paths—Cautious, Clever, Dramatic, Empathetic, Fast, Resolute, Sneaky, and Violent. These are rated between one and five and represent different approaches that a Player Character might take to overcoming a problem, interacting with an NPC, or taking down an opponent. He also has an Origin—Natural, Bioroid, Clone, Cyborg, or Gen-G, and a Profession—Criminal, Hacker, Holo-Star, Investigator, Musician, Suit, or Veteran. Humans start out weaker than other Origins, but have a higher Resolve and greater development potential. Bioroids are living machines which cannot improve their Paths, but instead spend Experience Points to purchase extra dice during the game. Clones are bred for one particular Path and when rolling it can reroll ones and roll a minimum number of dice for that Path. Cyborgs start play with cyberware, whilst Gen-G are genetically modified and have the greatest freedom of choice when it comes to assigning numbers to their Paths, but Cybernetics limit their Reserve. Each Profession provides increases to a Player Character’s Paths, assigns a Cred Rating, provides a choice of two Talents from a short list and a Special Ability, as well as setting three questions particular to the Profession. Lastly, the player selects a third Talent.

The process of character creation in Crescendo of Violence is not difficult or particularly lengthy. It does involve answering more than a few questions. There are the three for each of the Professions, but a player is encouraged to ask questions about his character’s background, look, how he makes his money, who he has hurt, how he feels about crime, what he feels wrong about Neo York, and so on. These of course require a fair bit of knowledge of the setting for Neo York. Some motivation comes from whatever reason the Player Character is on the ‘Out’ and has him to the fringes of society. Three options are suggested for each Profession. However, despite the Player Characters being hardboiled archetypes, Crescendo of Violence does feel as if it could do with some suggestions as to what choose if a player wants to play a particular character type. Perhaps a set of ready-to-play archetypes would have helped, not only in suggesting ideas to the players, but being ready-to-play, giving the Game Master a set of Player Characters for one-shots or convention play. At the very least, they would have served as examples of character generation, of which there is none in Crescendo of Violence.

The Talents in particular enforce the various genres blended in Crescendo of Violence. For example, Gun-Fu provides options such as Rapid Reload, Guns Akimbo (wielding two guns), Quick Draw, and Bullet Time (spend Momentum to gain extra actions), one of which can be selected each time the Gun-Fu Talent is purchased. Blind Luck allows one reroll per session per rank; Maverick forces the player to spend Reserve when he wants his character to do an action that an NPC has already told him is foolish or risky, but the Player Character starts each session with extra Reserve; and with Martial Artist, the player can select either Brutal Fury (for extra damage), Lightening Speed (gain an extra action after dropping a foe with an unarmed attack), or Flurry of Blows (attack an NPC again at a penalty and a successful first attack).

Nathan Spring
Origin: Cyborg
Profession: Musician
Cred Rating: 3d10
Special Ability: Access
Cautious 2 Clever 2 Dramatic 3 Empathetic 2 Fast 2 Resolute 2 Sneaky 2 Violent 2
Talents: Contacts, Focus, Smooth Talker
Cybernetics: Net-Box, Personal Fireaura, WETgloves, Repeltech Instrument (Rank 2)

Mechanically, Crescendo of Violence is primarily a dice pool system and will require ten ten-sided dice. In addition, though, each player requires two sets of tokens. The first set consists of a Green, a Yellow, and a Red token. These are Action tokens. The second set consists of five Momentum tokens. The core mechanic is the Test and is simple and straightforward. When a player wants his character to undertake an action, he selects the Path he wants the character to use, reflecting the approach that the character wants to take to the task. For example, if a Player Character wants to sympathise with an NPC in order to get her to open up, the appropriate Path would be Empathetic. This determines the base number of dice the player rolls, whilst any bonuses can add more dice and penalties reduce dice. The player rolls the dice against a difficulty set by the Game Master. This difficulty scale runs from one—‘Impossible to Fail’—to ten—‘Very Difficult, requires a lot of luck or a lot of skill’. If any of the dice results is equal to or greater than the difficulty, then the Player Character.

Failure can be just that, or the Game Master is free to offer a partial success. Combat consists of opposed rolls, one combatant rolling to attack, the other to avoid or to see which two of the combatants successfully attacks. Damage is then rolled and if any of the results are higher than the defendant’s Resolute Path, the defendant suffers Harm. Harm can be the loss of Momentum, the loss of the defendant’s Green or Yellow Action Token, or the defendant being knocked out of the action for the scene. Notably, a Player Character cannot die, surviving all of the heroic bloodshed until Act Three in the story when death indeed could be on the line. One action a Player Character cannot do is take cover and attack. In Crescendo of Violence, a Player Character taking cover is doing so to avoid damage. The aim here is push the Player Character to act and be heroic and be prepared to deal out the heroic violence as well as take it. Combat is designed to be fast and the outcome quick, the rules handled in under three pages, there are rules for initiative, and much is designed to be handled narratively rather than mechanically.

One obvious and immediate issue with Crescendo of Violence is Player Character competence. In a lot of cases, a Player Character is going to start play with ratings of two in his Paths, especially if a Natural Human. Talents, Cyberware, and equipment can increase the number of dice in a pool, but a player does have access to a number of resources that can put his character at an advantage and disadvantage. Fortunately, more of the former than the latter. The first are the Action Tokens. When the Green Action Token is spent, the player adds two dice to the roll, no dice when the Yellow Action Token is used, and deducts two dice when the Red Action Token is spent. A player always has an action Token to spend, representing his character’s good luck, no luck, and bad luck. However, in order to get the Green Action Token back, the player must use both of the other Action Tokens, so his character’s luck fluctuates back and forth over the course of play.

In general, Action Tokens have to be played, which will lead to fluctuating fortunes. When played, the player is expected to narrate how the Action Token gives his character the advantage if the Green Action Token or disadvantage if the Red Action Token. This can be down to luck, or it can be down to good planning—whether that of the Player Character or the NPC. However, NPCs do not have Action Tokens of their own and the Game Master only rolls for them in opposed tests, meaning that they serve as opposition narratively and mechanically throughout a story. Alternatively, the important NPCs and particularly villains, the Game Master can create them like a Player Character.

A Player Character has up to five Momentum. It is earned whenever a ten is rolled on the dice or can be purchased using Reserve. Momentum is spent on ‘Keep It Up’ to gain another action, to ‘Seize the Spotlight’ from an NPC, ‘No You Don’t’ to block the Game Master spending Momentum, to ‘Catch a Break’ and gain an Action Token back, and to use various Talents. The Game Master has her own Momentum, equal initially to the number of Player Characters and gains more whenever a player spends Momentum. In general, Momentum is intended to fuel the cinematic, gun-fu style of play at the heart of Crescendo of Violence.

A Player Character also has Reserves, again five. These have a value between one and ten, the number generated randomly by a roll of five ten-sided dice at the beginning of a session. They can be spent as a ‘Sure Gamble’ to use a Reserve’s value as a test result, ‘Second Wind’ to gain an Action Token back, ‘gain Momentum’ to gain extra Momentum, and ‘Take Cover’ to better resist damage. One problem with Reserves is that what they can do depends on their value. For example, ‘Second Wind’ gains an Action Token back, but only a Green Action Token if the value of the Reserve is nine or ten and a Yellow Action Token if the Reserve value is between five and eight. This is a bit complex for what is intended to be fast moving, action orientated game, and ideally, this should have been included on the Character Sheet for the players’ easy reference.

For example, Nathan Spring has been alerted to the two bioroids running towards Michael Iannelli. His player tells the Game Master that he wants Nathan to draw his gun and shoot both of them. The Game Master agrees, but tells the player that each bioroid will have a roll to evade, but at a penalty because they are not aware of Nathan. She also asks what Path Nathan will be using. His player suggests Fast as being the most appropriate and the Game Master agrees. In game, Nathan pulls his RemCorp Model 9 from its holster, takes aim, and fires. The RemCorp Model 9 has the Quick Draw modification, giving a bonus die on the first attack and Enhanced Targeting Array, a WETnet modification which Nathan can link to his AR glasses, to add another die. These are added to his Fast Path of two and Nathan’s player also elects to use his Green Action Token to give him six dice to roll. The bioroid are basic combat models, so as NPCs have a combat rating of four dice. This is reduced to three because they are unaware of Nathan.

Nathan’s player rolls one, four, five, six, seven, and eight. The Game Master rolls one, two, and three for the first bioroid. Nathan’s first shot hits and Nathan’s player rolls for damage, which is four dice for the pistol. The Game Master rolls four dice for the bioroid’s physical rating. Nathan’s player rolls three, five, five, and eight, but the Game Master only rolls two, three, five, and seven, which means that the bioroid takes Harm. Since Nathan is firing stun rounds, the Game Master rules that the first bioroid is down for the combat. For the second bioroid, the Game master rolls five, seven, eight, and ten, enough for the bioroid to realise that it is being attacked and evades the attack.

However, Nathan’s player decides to keep the initiative, spends a point of Momentum, and takes another action. For this attack, he has three dice to roll—two from his Fast Path and one from the Enhanced Targeting Array, whereas the second bioroid, aware that it is being attacked has its standard four dice for its combat rating. Nathan’s player chooses to play the Yellow Action Token, leaving the Red Action Token to take effect for Nathan’s next action. Nathan rolls three, six, and eight, but the Game Master rolls three, three, eight, and nine, which again is enough for the bioroid to avoid the attack. Nathan’s player looks at the situation and knows that Nathan has no immediate means to stop the bioroid, especially since he will have to use the Red Action Token on the next action. Nathan does have one other resource or rather Reserve. Rolled at the start of the session, Nathan’s Reserve includes a ten. So, Nathan’s player swaps it with the three he rolled for the attack on the second bioroid and ensures that it does not avoid his shot. There is still the matter of damage to be rolled and when all this is over, explaining it to Michael, his girlfriend, and the Neo York Police Department. That Red Action Token is going to cause Nathan trouble…

A story or scenario in Crescendo of Violence is played out in a three-act structure, plus intro and outro. It is meant to be played like a film. In the intro, the Game Master asks the players questions about their characters, such as what they have been doing since the last scenario, who their key associates are, and how they start the scenario. Each player generates his character’s Reserves and the Game Master can spend Heat that might have accrued from a previous story. Heat represents the Player Characters coming to the attention of a crime family, the Neo York Police Department or city hall, a union boss, or a megacorp. It is spent to make the life of one Player Character difficult, such as damaging his Cred Rating, throwing red tape in his way, all the way up to sending a trio of torpedoes his way to rub him out… During the story, the Player Characters can take Downtime actions, actions away from the action, but just two per session. It might be to Connect to an NPC, Earn some money, Make a Friend, Relax, engage in a Vice, or even Shop. All have their benefits, but there are limits as to when they can be done. In terms of the three-act structure, almost all of them can be conducted in the intro and the outro, the Earn Downtime action can only be done in Act I and Act II, and no Downtime actions can be conducted in Act III. This is because, obviously, the Player Characters are going to be busy confronting the villain in the big finale as doors get kicked down, bullets fly, punches are thrown, and the bodies hit the floor.

There is no scenario in Crescendo of Violence. However, there is a sample session which the Game Master can work up into a scenario. This follows the discussion of the three-act structure for the Game Master, who is also given good advice on her role and how to run the game. This includes how to run a safe game, since Crescendo of Violence obviously involves violence and adult themes.

Physically, Crescendo of Violence is breezily presented in swathes of brilliant pinks, blues, and purples. It is decently written, but it is lacking in places. The most obvious being the absence of an index or even a glossary, both of which would have been very useful. A proper scenario would have been good too, although there is one outlined in the book. Similarly sample archetypes would have been useful as well, and although the rules are not complex, they are not as well explained as they could be in places.

Crescendo of Violence transplants both the Jazz Age and the hardboiled, Film Noir genre to the future dystopia of Neo York, 2093, with its cool look, smouldering attitude, down and dirty heroes and heroines, and swinging tunes (but not, it should be noted, its social attitudes). It feels like it should have its own soundtrack. Crescendo of Violence: A Neon-Noir Roleplaying Game calls for players to really lean into its hard boiled, cool cat genre and storytelling—and if they do, the play is really going to be sharp and snappy.

Miskatonic Monday #75: The Evil on the East River

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.

—oOo—

Name: The Evil on the East River

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Ryan Graham Theobalds

Setting: Jazz Age New York

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-one page, 5.26 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Extracurricular activity puts the Investigators on another path.

Plot Hook: What extras will an opportunity for extra credit lead to?

Plot Support: Detailed plot, three good handouts, two maps, ten NPCs, Mythos tome, one spell, and four pre-generated Investigators. 

Production Values: Good.

Pros
# Potential addition to the New York chapter of Masks of Nyarlathotep: Dark Schemes Herald the End of the World

# Good addition to a Harlem Unbound campaign

# Strong historical background

# Decent quartet of pre-generated African American Investigators

# One very surprising NPC

# Fantastic shipboard fight

# Could be adapted to other periods and settings, but not easily

# Desperate race to stop disaster

# Action-orientated adventure (suitable for Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos?)

Cons
# Requires a slight edit

# Adult in tone

# More maps would have helped
# Research links poorly developed

# Action-orientated adventure

# Adult tone means it is unsuitable as a convention scenario

Conclusion

# Action-orientated adventure

# From debauchery to disaster, a desperate race to stop a madman

# Fantastic shipboard fight

Miskatonic Monday #54: Cages of Light & Lenses - A Call of Cthulhu adventure of lost film

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.

—oOo—

Name: Cages of Light & Lenses - A Call of Cthulhu adventure of lost film

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Alison Cybe

Setting: 1980s New York glamour & Soviet-era Bulgaria grime

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-seven page, 1.18 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Sometimes lost media should stay lost.
Plot Hook:  A collector wants the only copy of a once-thought lost Silent Era film; guess who he hires to get it? 

Plot Support: One creature, four Mythos entities, two maps, and five pre-generated Investigators.

Production Values: Tidy layout, plain maps, and decent illustrations, but needs an edit.

Pros
# Engaging introduction and theme
# Potential convention scenario
# Solid climax
# Room for development
# Scope to play up the Capitalist/Communist culture clash

Cons
# Needs an edit
# No stats for the lost film as a tome

# Antagonists underutilised
# Missed opportunity for Capitalist/Communist culture clash 
# Missed opportunity for Committee for State Security involvement

# How does the bear get out of the basement?

Conclusion
# Engaging introduction and theme
# Underdeveloped, but plenty of Cold War-horror potential 
# The King in Yellow, but in reverse?

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.