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The Many Deaths of Edward Bigsby
by Alexander L. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 03/11/2014 06:26:25

Originally posted at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2014/03/11/tabletop-review-the-many-deaths-of-edward-bigsby-trail-of-cthulhu/

For those not in the know, Yog-Sothoth.com is one of the best pages on the Internet for all things related to Call of Cthulhu gaming. This includes other systems, like Cthulhu Dark, Trail of Cthulhu, Cthuhutech and anything else Mythos related. What you might not know is that, slowly but surely, YSDC has been releasing gaming materials of their own. Almost a year ago, they released a systemless supplement known as The Archeologist’s Handbook. I reviewed it in June of last year and found it enjoyable, but a bit pricey for what you got. YSDC’s newest release is an actual licensed product this time around, and it’s for Pelgrane Press’ Trail of Cthulhu rather than Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu, which was an unexpected choice. I’m happy to say that the adventure is one of the better ToC products I’ve reviewed, and that you’ll definitely get your money’s worth. There are a few oddities about the release, but nothing that should detract from your enjoyment of the adventure.

Let’s talk about those (minor) oddities first. First, the piece devotes three pages to the Open Game License from Wizards of the Coast. I found this really odd, since Trail of Cthulhu uses the GUMSHOE system. There’s nothing in it resembling D&D 3.0/3.5. I went through my other Trail of Cthulhu first and third party releases, as well as issues of The Unspeakable Oath with ToC adventures, but none of them have the D&D OGL in them. So I’m not sure why YSDC did this, aside from covering all the bases JUST IN CASE. This strangeness is simply peculiar and worth noting, if only simply because like the adventure itself, it’s just plain weird. It’s also so that you don’t pick this up and think GUMSHOE is a d20 product or that you somehow confuse this with the d20 version of Call of Cthulhu.

The other oddity is that The Many Deaths of Edward Bigsby does not contain any original art. They are all public domain pieces. Usually commissioned art accounts for a decent chunk of the price tag of an adventure. So without any original art, the $6.95 price tag attached to The Many Deaths of Edward Bigsby is a bit high, especially compared to other Cthulhu based PDFs. Most Trail of Cthulhu adventures that are around the same price have original art and a much higher page count, so you could easily go elsewhere and get more for your buck/quid, but that money wouldn’t go towards keeping YSDC running in addition to giving you a fun set of gaming sessions with your friends. So yes, some people might be turned off by the inflated price and/or the lack of original art, but in the end, quality is king, and since The Many Deaths of Edward Bigbsy is one of the better ToC adventures out there, it’s worth picking up if you’re a fan of the system.

So let’s talk content. The Many Deaths of Edward Bigsby tells you what you need to know just in the title. Poor Mr. Bigsby, a friend of an acquaintance, has come to the Investigators for help. Why, exactly, you don’t know, as he dies horribly in front of your eyes as he tries to tell you what exactly is going on. As players will discover while they try to unravel the mystery, this is only the first time they will see Mr. Bigbsy meet his demise. As the story unfolds, players will explore 1930s Soho (London, not New York) and run afoul of a Chinese triad, a Bohemian group, some potentially perplexed police, a slightly evil wizard and a few green doors that appear to be the root of the problem. If players are really unlucky or bad at solving adventures like this, they just might run into Yog-Sototh itself… which never ends well for anyone involved.

The adventure is a fun, open-ended piece of detective work. The scenes presented might not play out in the order they are provided in the adventure, but that’s based mostly on the direction the Investigators decide to go. The adventure is also unique in that things can get quite comical (in a cosmic horror sort of way) once duplicates of the late Mister Bigsby (and potentially other characters as well) start turning up. One could easily run this adventure as either a straight forward, grim, weird tale, or as a farcical comedy of errors, especially when duplicates encounter each other with unexpected results. I think this is the first Trail of Cthulhu adventure I’ve encountered where the potential for (purposeful) comedy is this high. Again, though, it’s all in how your Keeper runs the piece, so don’t go into this adventure expecting the equivalent of a Warner Bros cartoon. However, if you are a Keeper and your players seem sick of the usual grimdark Mythos pieces, running this with a decent amount of comedy could keep The Many Deaths of Edward Bigsby fresh rather than stale.

I also liked that there are several different ways the adventure could end, depending on how thorough the Investigators were in the adventure. If they fly through things, they’ll find the core adventure really “easy” in terms of lack of chances to die or go insane, but the end scene being quite hard to deal with. Conversely, if players are extremely careful, checking every little detail about a scene and the like, the end scene is pretty straightforward and simple. It’s kind of a reward for player diligence. I should also point out that players will need access to the Elder Sign in order to really get through this adventure. If these are new characters, or the adventure is being used as a one-shot, the adventure will be EXTREMELY hard if they do not come across how to make this symbol in the adventure. The text gives a way for Investigators to come across one, but because of this issue, The Many Deaths of Edward Bigsby might be best left with more experienced characters. Unless, of course, you’re up for an extremely uphill battle for the Investigators. Not having the Elder Sign doesn’t make the adventure impossible to get through, but it does make it pretty hard.

I have to say I really enjoyed The Many Deaths of Edward Bigsby. The adventure was pretty unique, the core problem that players had to solve was an original and entertaining one, and as I’ve said, the adventure works equally well as a comedy piece as it does one of unexplainable horror beyond human comprehension stories. We tried it both ways and players had a blast with it – even those that aren’t a fan of the GUMSHOE system. The adventure offers a really entertaining cast of NPCs for the Investigators to interact with, and this is a great first start for YSDC and Innsmouth House Press with regards to releasing licensed adventures. I’m really excited to see what they put out next.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Many Deaths of Edward Bigsby
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The Many Deaths of Edward Bigsby
by Megan R. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 03/01/2014 10:45:06

A most remarkable and strange adventure. Now, someone turning up on the investigators' doorstep and asking for help is quite normal. Even the poor fellow dropping dead before he manages to explain his problem is not completely out of the ordinary... but when what appear to be duplicate corpses start turning up all over town, then you KNOW something weird is going on!

Oh. All of the corpses have the party's address in their pocket. Just the thing to send nosy police officers round to visit.

This is a fast-moving rapidly escalating adventure that should keep the party on their toes. The book opens by revealing what is actually happening, and how it could so easily lead to Things That Should Not Be did the characters fail to deal with the problem. All the notes are laid out well, with clear indications of which skills might reveal the clues if the right questions are asked and the characters look in the right places: good use of the GUMSHOE rules mechanics that underpin Trail of Cthulhu. There's plenty of advice on how to deal with potential character actions too, as well as some gloriously atmospheric notes on the seedier parts of Soho in London, where the adventure is located.

The characters will have the opportunity to explore much of the underbelly of London as they chase down the plethora of clues provided. There's plenty for them to do - and plenty of potential contacts for them to make, should they ever be here again. It creates a good alternate reality, with lots going on apart from the matter the characters are investigating, yet keeping the current investigation firmly in centre stage. There is an end-note linking locations and other material in this adventure to the Trail of Cthulhu product Bookhounds of London, although you don't need to have it to make the most of this work.

This is an exciting and potentially deadly adventure that should keep the characters on their toes throughout.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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The Archaeologist's Handbook
by Alexander L. [Featured Reviewer] Date Added: 06/18/2013 07:42:59

Originally posted at: http://diehardgamefan.com/2013/06/17/tabletop-review-the-archaeologists-handbook-call-of-cthulhutrail-of-cthulhu/

An archaeologist is a common NPC, antagonist, plot hook and supporting character in a lot of Cthulhu works, be they fiction, film or tabletop gaming. Yet oddly enough, there has never been a template for the occupation in Call of Cthulhu. The core rulebook? No. The Investigator’s Companion? No. Byhakee? Nope, not there either. It’s so odd considering how important archaeology and archaeologists are to the game and its offshoots, like Trail of Cthulhu, Age of Cthulhu and even other horror role-playing games. Well, author Helen Maclean thought it was about time to give the archaeologist its due and let it take center stage. Innsmouth House Press agreed, and together, they’ve put out a lovely eighty page book entitled The Archaeologist’s Handbook.

I should point out that, although I list the book as a Call of Cthulhu product, it’s actually very system neutral, and could easily be used with everything from Chill or All Flesh Must Be Eaten to Modern d20 games. There are only three pages truly dedicated to any system in this book, and those are the sample player characters included towards the end – although I have no idea what system they are for. It’s certainly not Call OR Trail, and there is no listing or nod to what system they are using here. The rest of the book is more a treatise or collection of essays dedicated to fleshing out what archaeology is and how one goes about doing it as a profession, rather than a collection of game mechanics or rule lists. For a player, The Archaeologist Handbook helps them to understand their character better. By knowing the hows and whys of the profession, they will better be able to roleplay and perhaps even use their allotted skills better. For a Keeper, it lets them flesh out NPCs, digs where something horrible is going to happen and even use real world locations, famous digs, museums and hoaxes as piece of their own homebrew adventures. It’s exceptionally done, but just remember, this is more a tome of essays or papers without footnotes and a proper bibliography than an actual full-on gaming supplement, and because of that, The Archaeologist’s Handbook might not be for everyone.

There are fourteen sections to The Archaeologist’s Handbook. The introduction explains why the book was written and its intended purpose. “What is Archaeology?” explains the history of the profession. As a folklorist, I was glad to see the mention of how archaeology differs from anthropology, as you’d be surprised how often people assume the two are similar. I know about as much on cleaning an ancient relic as an archaeologist probably does about a specific subculture. There is a ton of great information in this chapter, with commentary on how the science evolved and also the large role that the concept of evolution played within it.

Although the timeline paragraphs are interesting, it’s the chapter, “Site Information,” and the one following it, entitled “Techniques,” that will be of the most interest to Keepers, especially those that run their horror/modern era games more like detective work. These chapters explain how an eventual dig location is formed over the years/centuries, and the manner in which the unearthing/exhuming process is begun. Again, for a Keeper, this is a great way to come up with a story of their own; basically, this helps to create a lost city, ancient ruin, relic of unfathomable power and so on, and have it be lost (and found) in a realistic manner. The techniques described in the self-same chapter are a wonderful bounty of ideas on how to add realism to a character or chronicle, especially with the history on how excavation techniques evolved over the years. That way, you can use the right style of excavation based on the time period and location in which your adventure is set. You’ll learn the rudimentary basics of dating, aerial photography, geographical surveying and more. Now, there’s not enough to actually give the ins and outs of their methods; merely enough so that you understand the concept and can use it as window dressing in your adventure(s). This is the second longest chapter in the book, and this is either the point where your imagination will be fueled with ideas, or where you’ll say, “This isn’t a gaming manual/supplement at all!”

“Museums” is simply a collection of some of the more famous museums in North America, Europe and North Africa. Sorry Asia, South America and Australia, but you’re not included. Each museum in this section is given a few paragraphs of detail and a url for its actual real world website. Some of the museum choices are odd. The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago over the multiple Smithsonian’s in Washington D.C. for example, will definitely raise an eyebrow, but what’s here is a nice quick snapshot of various locations in which to set adventures.

“Running an Archaeological Excavation” sounds self-explanatory, but it really isn’t. This chapter goes into how to obtain dig funding, dealing with hired workers that don’t have the same sense of regard for history as their employers, and how to close a dig up once finished. “Fakes and Forgeries” talks about the three biggest scams in archaeology, including the Cardiff Giant and Piltdown Man.

“A Geography of Archaeology” takes up twenty-four pages, and is the best section for coming up with adventure ideas. Indeed, this chapter includes multiple story hooks – one after each description of a famous location. Places like Stonehenge, Troy, Easter Island and more can be found in this chapter. The plot hooks are really interesting as well, especially as there are multiple options for each to unfold.

After that comes the aforementioned weird characters for the game (which I wish would have been used for various systems on how to make an archaeologist template instead), followed by “A Day in the Life,” which is three fictional journal entries from various archaeologists to show what a typical day for one in a specific time period (Gaslight, 1920s, Modern Era) would be like. After that, the book winds down with “Famous Archaeologists,” which is self explanatory, “Equipment List,” which gives you a list of what archaeologists from a given era would carry with them, and finally “Further Reading,” which gives a list of books, both fiction and non-fiction for extended reading on the subject matter.

All in all, The Archaeologists Handbook is a fun one. Ten dollars for the PDF is a bit pricey for what you are getting, considering it’s not formatted very well (chapters start in the middle and even sometimes at the bottom of a page! It’s like a poorly done monograph) and there isn’t any art or colour, so this is pricey for what you get. For a comparable price you can easily get a full fledged (albeit it probably drier) book on the subject. The physical version is harder to recommend, become of the price for that (plus shipping costs from overseas), but for those that like in depth gaming supplements that flesh out a particular class or give you more substance for your setting, The Archaeologist’s Handbook is a wonderful foray into an occupation that has somehow been treated as second rate for the past three decades. Content is king here, and I enjoyed the material presented personally, but the cost plus the lack of mechanics may limit who will pick this up – especially the physical copy.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
The Archaeologist's Handbook
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