A Chill in Abashiri - A 1920s Taisho-Era Japan Scenario

A Chill in Abashiri

A 1920s Taisho-Era Japan Scenario

December 1922, Abashiri, Northern Japan

Abashiri Prison, located on the northern shore of Hokkaido, houses ‘dangerous’ criminals and political dissidents, and is no stranger to death and cold. But when a guard dies under suspicious circumstances, and amidst an unprecedented cold snap, a team of mixed professionals is sent to investigate the facility and its occupants, both staff and imprisoned. Amidst the Taisho-era empire’s political maelstrom, the investigators must navigate suspicious guards and uncooperative prisoners to uncover a plot that threatens not just Abashiri Prison, but the future of their changing nation.

"Excellent, focused investigation with a suitably frigid feel throughout reflecting the politics of the period"

- Reviews from R'lyeh

"Isolation is a classic horror tool, and this scenario makes excellent use of this too"

- Rolling Boxcars

Written by Michael Reid, author of the Gold best-selling Branches of Bone - A Cthulhu Dark Ages Viking Age Scenario and the newly released supplement Memorable Major Wounds - Critical Tables and Expanded Injuries for Call of Cthulhu.

A Chill in Abashiri is a mystery-investigative scenario set in 1922 Japan, casting the players as a team investigating the death of a prison guard at Abashiri Prison in Hokkaido. It uses Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition rules.

The scenario is designed to be run in roughly four to six hours for a group of four investigators, though it could be shortened to fit convention length or expanded to cover extra sessions, and could be modified for one investigator, or up to six.

A Chill in Abashiri includes:

• 28 fully bookmarked and hyperlinked pages including handouts, maps, and stat blocks, rule supplements and Keeper aids (39 with cover and pregen investigators).

• Cover by Linus Larsson, character illustrations by David North and Zed Nope, and images of Abashiri Prison and its surroundings to build ambience.

• Four pre-generated 1920s Japanese investigators, and suggestions for creating new or using existing investigators.

• Flowchart, encounter table, and advice for Keepers to suit the scenario to their group.

• Two spells, a Mythos Tome, a Mythos Deity, two new Japanese weapons.

• Printer-friendly-ish version, plain text version of handouts, zip of separated handout jpgs.

Content Warning: A Chill in Abashiri is set in a violent time and place, and contains themes of political and colonial oppression.