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Before the Fall presents four Call of Cthulhu adventures set before the government raid on Innsmouth. This product is aimed at beginning keepers and players.

"Mary" is the first adventure and the best for beginners. The scenario is simple but flexible, emphasizes role playing and investigation, and gives beginners a good taste of the mythos without exposing them to any superpowered beasties. Veterans will find the plot predictable, as will those familiar with Deep Ones, but beginners will enjoy it.

The second adventure, and the weakest of the lot, is "Old Acquaintance." The basic premise behind this scenario is that an old friend of the investigators has become caught up in the machinations of Innsmouth's leaders. Two weaknesses hinder this adventure. First, the plot is very railroaded and feels set in stone. Second, the full details behind the story are not clear. After reading the scenario, the plot did not feel fully fleshed out. The motivations for each character are clear, but the background that spawned these motivations is not. The basic problem with this scenario is that it lacks a clear background and does not give enough insight or information on its villains.

"The Innsmouth Connection" gives us a nice break from the mythos. The scenario set up screams of occult and magic but nicely turns it into a purely mundane matter. The mythos are present, though the level of their involvement is left up to the Keeper. This adventure stands in clear contrast with "Old Acquaintance." Here, the NPCs are fully fleshed out and their motivations and possible actions are made quite clear. Best of all, there's a lot of room here for campaign-wide post scenario shockwaves.

"The Occulted Light" is the final adventure in this package. While it lacks the flexibility of "The Innsmouth Connection" or "Mary", it succeeds with a somewhat railroaded plot. The main point of this adventure is to thrust the players into an encounter with a monster that requires guile and cunning to defeat. There's enough complications here to keep everyone on their toes and keep the game moving.

Before the Fall is a solid resource for beginners. My only complaint is that this product should have included some advice for beginning keepers. Also, the introduction mentions that HPL's "Shadows over Innsmouth" as a must-read resource but doesn't mention where to find it.

Overall, veterans will not find much here but beginners will love it. The four adventures expose newbies to the CoC style of play in an entertaining manner. As models of adventure design, the scenarios stand up well, except for "Old Acquaintance." There's enough flexibility here to let the Keeper tailor the adventure with little work and the adventures succeed in presenting players with typical CoC situations. There's investigation, research, monsters from beyond, and suspicious characters here, a nice collection for the CoC beginner.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Before the Fall
Author: Ralph Dula, Michael Lay, Gary O'Connell, Gary Sumpter, Lucya Szachnowski, Tom Sullivan, M. Wayne Miller, and Drashi Khendup Category: game Company/Publisher: Chaosium Cost: $11.95 ISBN: 1-56882-135-2 Capsule Review by Mike Mearls on 03/02/99. Genre tags: Horror	Before the Fall presents four Call of Cthulhu adventures set before the government raid on Innsmouth. This product is aimed at beginning keepers and players. "Mary" is the first adventure and the best for beginners. The scenario is simple but flexible, emphasizes role playing and investigation, and gives beginners a good taste of the mythos without exposing them to any superpowered beasties. Veterans will find the plot predictable, as will those familiar with Deep Ones, but beginners will enjoy it. The second adventure, and the weakest of the lot, is "Old Acquaintance." The basic premise behind this scenario is that an old friend of the investigators has become caught up in the machinations of Innsmouth's leaders. Two weaknesses hinder this adventure. First, the plot is very railroaded and feels set in stone. Second, the full details behind the story are not clear. After reading the scenario, the plot did not feel fully fleshed out. The motivations for each character are clear, but the background that spawned these motivations is not. The basic problem with this scenario is that it lacks a clear background and does not give enough insight or information on its villains. "The Innsmouth Connection" gives us a nice break from the mythos. The scenario set up screams of occult and magic but nicely turns it into a purely mundane matter. The mythos are present, though the level of their involvement is left up to the Keeper. This adventure stands in clear contrast with "Old Acquaintance." Here, the NPCs are fully fleshed out and their motivations and possible actions are made quite clear. Best of all, there's a lot of room here for campaign-wide post scenario shockwaves. "The Occulted Light" is the final adventure in this package. While it lacks the flexibility of "The Innsmouth Connection" or "Mary", it succeeds with a somewhat railroaded plot. The main point of this adventure is to thrust the players into an encounter with a monster that requires guile and cunning to defeat. There's enough complications here to keep everyone on their toes and keep the game moving. Before the Fall is a solid resource for beginners. My only complaint is that this product should have included some advice for beginning keepers. Also, the introduction mentions that HPL's "Shadows over Innsmouth" as a must-read resource but doesn't mention where to find it. Overall, veterans will not find much here but beginners will love it. The four adventures expose newbies to the CoC style of play in an entertaining manner. As models of adventure design, the scenarios stand up well, except for "Old Acquaintance." There's enough flexibility here to let the Keeper tailor the adventure with little work and the adventures succeed in presenting players with typical CoC situations. There's investigation, research, monsters from beyond, and suspicious characters here, a nice collection for the CoC beginner. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)