My favorite call of cthulhu scenario. The island is incredibly creepy and the layers of conspiracies and little things the players can discover are truly great. The pregens are incredibly fun and well written as well. I have run it twice and both groups immensely enjoyed it.

If you want Ghost Adventures meets the Mythos than this is absolutely perfect. Our group had a blast and is eagerly awaiting the follow-up so they can continue the adventure- well, sans Marco (poor, poor Marco).

Great Setting! It shows us what a Call of Cthulhu scenario could be, and gives lots of intresting characters and handouts to have fun with. I think the scenario it self is good, but has some problems. I thought, from all I had heard about it, that it would be great and one of the best scenarios ever(especially from Seth's video). But when I read through it the problems started to show.

My problems:

• A bit railroady if not done right
• Relies heavily on the players roleplayingskills
• Alot of rooms
• Alot of the rooms are unintresting
• Not good for new keepers in my opinion
• Ending is hard, atleast for me
• Not that many npcs

!!Spoilers!!

The concept is great, I love the youtube ghosthunting theme, and the old- plauge monks worshiping an old god of diasease and their gruesome rituals. But the scenario does feel like a railroady horror walkthrough, with set out locations and encounters. And the scenario knows this. That is why they give you ways to make it less railroady, but i still feelt, even using some of the recommended methods, like it was a ghosthunting railroad, and i think i know why. It is that the scenario relies heavily on the players roleplaying skill. The players need to make it fun for them selves acting like funny overeacting ghosthunters, and that granted is easy to do with the characters(I love the aspect of the sceptics, the psycics and that one fakes evidence, its GOLD), but it still needs good players to work as intended, especially since the scenarion is set on an island so the keeper cant "force" roleplaying by convercating as npcs. So if you have good players who are conforable with high roleplay between players this scenario is Great and deserves 5 stars. But if your like me who wanted to run this with a newer group, you maybe should wait.

That brings me into the point of people saying it could even be ran as a beginner scenario. To that i say no, the scenario isn't the greatest as a first och beginner scenario. Granted it gives good explanations and fleshed out locations, it is still what i would call an intermediate scenario. The scenario gives alot of locations which SUCKS for me who cant even remember the rooms in the Fitzgerald manse, and most of the rooms, atleast in the hospital, are unintressting. The hospital gives you alot of rooms with some that are super intressting and others that have almost nothing in them. And the scenario also points to places that i atleast find unintresting, the discription for the Terminal Ward is super short, and the handout says that it should be super scary so i would have expected it had more stuff in it! This makes it so the scenario relies on the keepers, railroading and improvisation skills. It might just be me who is bad at large locations but i feel like having a hospital with alot of intressting rooms, and a boatload of unintressting rooms, makes this scenario harder to run. But there where other locations who had the same problems, like the cremation pit, where its just a rat in a pit, not much more. That is another example of why you need good players who can roleplay to make these sceens intresting, sepecially when the books recommends atleas 30 minutes at each location.

Then we get to the ending. I like the ending that they give wich is the Innsmouth inisiative, but i feelt like it was hard to run, even with the new revision. The original doesn't give the investigators a role, its mainly just a scene playing out, and the added ending is unrealistic- to say the least. Like COME ON, a helicopter just breaks and lands close to them and then they just get granades!!! That would never even happen on an extreme luck roll. I thought it i must have missread it. Seths ending is much preferable, and i used it, letting my investigators find some grenades from the raid, which they promptly wasted because of bad rolls, and then let hastilyx go through the wifi repeater close to the bridge, but instead of him coming out of the electrical equipment on the investigators persons, hastelyx came out of the other wifi repeater on the light house- giving the investigators another chance to destroy the reciever to stop Hastelyx, which they of course also failed.

Last before my conclutions i just want to mention a few other shorter gripes i had. First was the lac of nps. I played without the "night in perla" part, and that made for lacluster roleplay, and that is why i used Em alot when i ran. And Seconldy the unfinished plotlines. The scenario is great in giving the keeper as many fun things to do and play with as possible, for example Em, the audio handout, bookfragment, dead plauge monk, LEMONS, UltimaUnum, heroin addicts, and more! but I atleast felt like they gave so much stuff that the plotlines remained un finished. For example in my playthrough i had Em(who is a big part of the plot) forgetting one static-camera in the hospital, which had caught her gruesome deeds. The investigators then became suspisious but didn't press the matter, and in the end never got to know anything since she just leapt into the charnell pit. The reason they didn't think so much about Em was because they were on the hunt for the plagemonk, and following the orders of UltimaUnum, and where trying to summon spirits through the spirit box.

So in conclusion: The scenario is great and gives good investigators, good theme, and is perfect for a short and fun themed adventure with your players, but it requires a good Keeper who can handle big maps and subtle railroading, and also good players who can handle roleplaying with eachother and drag out scenes on their own, without needing the keepers actions.

I hope we get more scenarios like this where we have a set theme and fun premade characters. And I also hope we get a sequel soon!

One of the best adventures for CoC I have read since I started playing the game in the early 80’s

I ran this for the first time last summer with my regular gaming group, and it's still talked about as their favourite scenario. The timeline is useful for guiding the plot without being overwhelming, the location is fleshed out beautifully, and the handouts are second to none. We are still waiting on baited breath for the follow-up scenario, which I get asked about almost monthly still. An excellent scenario, and one I couldn't recommend enough.

This was a fantastic module to run, the investigators and I had a great time with it. Definitely a bit of work to go through it all but there is so much variety in how it can play out that the group wants to run it again as different characters to see what else this module has in it.

I just ran this scenario last night as a one-shot game for two very experienced CoC players, one intermediate player and two relative novices. The long story short: we ALL loved it! Players had a great time and as Keeper, I was able to weave together events and locations to produce a genuinely creepy game.

The Pre-generated PCs are terrific and that's what we used. They each have their own motivations, secrets, objectives and feel very fleshed out. There is helpful information on how to create PCs to work with this scenrio, too, for groups that might not interested in using pre-gens. I cannot comment on how useful that is as we didn't utilize it, but it looked thorough and helpful.

The overall layout of the scenario is good. There is a LOT of information and great detail. Maps are provided as are several helpful handouts. I was able to flip back and forth to get the necessary information in real-time fairly well. There are also some new and unique tables for random events and Bouts of Madness that are terrific for this game. I recommend printing out those tables to have them handy.

There are MANY locations in the scenario, but few NPCs which I think works really well.

Helpful criticisms: I wish that the location descriptions noted information suggested to be read aloud in a different font or color. Some passages seemed clearly meant to be read to the players, others not so much. I went through the PDF and highlighted what I deemed the "read-aloud" parts.

The handouts for the "tech" PC are fun and thorough, but if the players head to the various locations in a different order some of the information will see out of place or just odd. Keepers should be ready to edit on the fly if necessary. Speaking of handouts, one of the images of a location features burning candles, but the description does not. Just a bit of a disconnect as I'd read the description to the players and when they looked at the handout, they asked about the candles. Not a huge deal.

Finally, for any Keepers who keep trotting out that old chestnut: modern Cthulhu doesn't work because Google/iPhones/internet/et cetera, READ THIS SCENARIO! It gives GREAT ideas on how to use technology to IMPROVE the horror and the game. Keepers shouldn't be afraid to use tech in their games. It's fallable, it's prone to hacking, and it makes for great moments when the PCs realize that the tech is more a hinderance than a help. Brilliant.

My players are loving it, and I love running it! I'm literally in the middle of running it, but I just had to write this review while it was fresh in my mind. Here's what I have to say after 1 of 2 sessions!

The Book: Really well organized, sucinct, and an awesome narrative. It's very tight and logically structured with some pretty awesome artwork all over! The updated content found in the Unredacted version (you get both PDFs) is very logical and a natural prologue AND ending. As a DM who runs pretty much exclusively online, the PDF version is perfect. Hyperlinked, annotatable, and with all of the handouts and pre-gen sheets listed seperately. Very nice!

The Game: The first session I ran started from Perla and ended at the hospital, running for about 4 hours with a 5-10 minute break every hour and a half. Like most Call of Cthulhu scenarios, there is little (I would honestly say "no") combat, which has been fine for my players. I run for a really diverse group of players, from folks who have been playing for decades to folks who only started playing a few months ago, and each of them said SEPERATELY that this first session was the most fun AND fear they've ever experienced in a TTRPG session EVER. I would say that I set the tone at more comedy-leaning than serious, but as we've spent more time on the island, it's suddenly not all "just a prank" anymore. I didn't anticipate this, not going to lie, so I would like to emphasize the importance of a session 0, even for a oneshot, even with players you run for regularly, as I had a few moments with my players that I'm glad we hashed out before the session because it only allowed them to have even more fun.

Some themes/concepts I would warn the players about are: Loss of player agency (BEYOND the usual insanity mechanics of Call of Cthulhu), possible player in-fighting or betrayal, bugs (so many bugs.....), close encounters with the dead...And if you're thinking to yourself, "Duh, those things are just in CoC games!" I'd like to remind you that no one is too cool to learn the rules and boundaries. Have the "no-brainer" talk now so they can enjoy the game to its fullest later. You won't regret it.

The Handouts/Pre-Gens: My players LOVE the Spektral Krew. They're simultaneously people my players would never create AND people we've all definitely met in person. I think everyone puts their own unexpected "flavor" on their version of the Krew, so you'll end up with a unique experience for everyone you run it for! My one and only complaint is that I think the concept of "the taint" is amazing, but could be even MORE amazing if it was, to some degree, hidden from the players (with their consent--see above). From what I'm noticing, their exposure is rising pretty slowly, but as they all slowly get sicker and sicker, that fear of like, "oh my god what's happening to us" is continuing to grow, and I can't wait for them to hit the climax. I'd love a version of the character sheets without the exposure tracker

Overall, this is honestly my favorite scenario I've run so far, and I look forward to finishing it out! Am eagerly awaiting the sequel--keep up the amazing work!

This scenario is a whole lot of fun, but they are not kidding with the content warning. If you or your players are sqemish you should probably play something else. That said, it is very well written and have rather amazing pre-gens. It took us 5 hours to play through it but the Keeper can decide to run it longer and I could easily have run it twice that time but I wanted a fast paced ghost hunting experience for my players. A pro tip is that if you order then beautiful hardback, also get the .PDF with it because like most CoC modules it have a whole lot of handouts and being able to just print those out or put them out on Roll20 as I did saves a whole lot of work and problems for you, the price is almost the same as for just the hardback too. This is a perfect one shot module to bring to an convention or to run your players through when you want them to play something different. You could insert it into an existing campaign but you will loose a lot of the most fun parts that way. Using the super chat to manipulate your players is really a dreamtool for any keeper. :) 5 Stars as a one shot or 2 session seperate game, 3 stars to run inserted in an ongoing campaign.

Just ran this on Saturday and this is AMAZING! My players are loving every part of the store and have totally embraced their roles. Anyone who wants a great modern store with some immersive characters and mechanics should get this. Running this has been so much fun thanks Bud and Alex!

I had a blast playing in this scenario over a couple of sessions during playtesting. I was quite fortunate to join as a number of waiting list sign-ups dropped out at the last minute. The concept for the group gives great character motivations for all the players to interact with one another irrespective of the encounters they may have. The use of technology to give glimpses into the mystery was really innovative and just as fun for the party members not equipped with such gear. The additional game mechanics were subtle and tonally suited to the scenario. The only thing I missed compared to campaign play was a vast cast of NPCs, but I realize any additional people on the island setting would not have enabled the ramping up of the tension throughout the game. The rich back story will make it a really fun scenario to run as a keeper, and all the handouts, artwork, maps, and pre-generated characters are well thought out and cohesive throughout. If you or your group need a modern day Mediterranean island experience as a group of live-broadcasting paranormal investigators, this is the scenario for you.

I was lucky enough to play this with Bud as Keeper during one of the pre-release playtests. I played Corrina, who was a lot of fun to play and it's nice to see that my feedback from the session was taken on board, in the form of an additional handout in the released version.

The scenario is presented as a live streamed episode from "Spektral Krew" an esablished team of ghost-hunters with a reasonable following on You-Tube and comes with the pre-gens for the Krew.

There is suggested back ground watching for Keepers/Krews new to Ghost Hunting shows to get an idea of the feel of the "show", tips for how to use other investigators if pre-gens aren't your thing and some pointers for how to come at the scenario from a completely different angle if a You-Tube show doesn't do it for you.

We'll stick with the Spektral Krew who are:

Marco Proudfoot, the founder, boss and lead investigator Corrina, the psychic Enoch, the muscle Peter, the camera guy Hyun, the sound guy and Maya (an NPC) the editor and producer who coralles the team from her home in London

Each of the Krew has a secret that works as a roleplaying hook and leads to some very interesting game play at the table.

For this episode Marco is taking the team to a pair of islands off the coast of Italy which have never been investigated by ghost-hunters before in a bid to increase subscribers to the channel and 'Go Viral' by hitting the magic million followers. The islands are shown as completely bare on most maps, but Maya has discovered that there are several buildings on the islands and that the larger of the two was previously home to an order of monks who cared for the sick in the days of the plague. With that kind of history there's bound to be residual energy left over from all the suffering and death caused by such a disease, where better to look for ghosts right?

The main island has several locations to explore with a couple on the smaller island, where the Krew land for their investigation. Each location is richly detailed from the outside giving an atmospheric view of the place with further descriptions for internal exploration where appropriate. It is not necessary for your Krew to investigate all of the locations to reach the finale of the scenario. In fact it can be played over 1 to 3 sessions, with suggested show itineries and locations to investigate depending on the amount of time your Krew want to commit to play.

There is plenty of guidance for Keepers and two unique ways to keep the scenario moving, the first being Maya, who encourages the Krew to keep to the show's agreed itinery as she has VTs queued up to mix in when they need to break to set up the next scene etc and is also keeping an eye on the time, the second being the comments from the viewers who let the Krew know what they're finding interesting, point out things the Krew may have missed and maybe draw on their own knowledge to explain things they're seeing to the Krew, they can also donate money via the "Super-Chat" to urge the Krew into interacting with the scenery.

Some new rules, the Sight, the Taint, Paranormal Phenomena and a adapted "Insanity and Bouts of Madness" results, are included. These are well explained and suit the scenario beautifully. Three sets of encounter tables are presented with advice on working them into the scenario depending on the "show" time. The player handouts are well thought out and will work well for both printing and VTT use.

One of the best bits of Keeper advice comes in the form of a hints from Bud section. A nice addition that makes it feel very personal (in a good way).

All in all a great little scenario, which I intend to run for my home group next time they agree to take a break from fantasy RPGs.

I had the fortune of play-testing this scenario. It is an amazingly novel concept that is worked right into the scenario. The character motivations are deep and interconnected. The location has both variety and depth and gave the great feeling that people crave of not knowing what the threat is just outside their field of view. This is also a premium role-playing product with exceptional art and layout. I can't wait for it to go to print!

Otimo scenario. This has to be 1 of the best modern day Call of Cthulhu scenarios, I’ve ever played. Starting with the characterful international bespoke pre-gens, embracing modern technology, the unusual geographic location off the coast of Sicily and not your average Mythos monsters. No Bud & Alex didn’t plonk, stick a Shoggoth here. They masterfully introduced a worthy adversary that I hadn’t had the pleasure of meeting or have come across in my decades of play. Highly recommended. Buy it!

A magnificent, atmospheric scenario. Viral is set in modern times, using the tropes of streaming, multimedia and a roving myth busting team to bring the gradual horror into sharp focus.

The pre-gens are detailed and comprehensive, giving room for players to have a lot of fun. The scenario itself starts off light, even playful, before events and scenes begin to darken the mood and up the growing sense of unease on the main location.

Having played the scenario over two four hour sessions I can vouch for how much fun this was with the well-developed pre-gens, the multiple layers of running a stream, investigating a location, reacting to events with input from the viewers and then gradually all bets are off as events takeover.

I am extermely impressed with the detail and support given to GMs in running this scenario, from maps, pre-gen backgrounds and advice on running as a one-short versus a longer series of sessions. Loads of great art that sets the tone and makes this a high quality product.

Overall, this is an excellent modern Call of Cthulhu scenario which takes a unique concept and aligns it with a fantastic location, dripping with atmosphere and gradually introduces small shocks that ramp up into mind-shattering revelations! Loved it!