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'Beyond The Mountains Of Madness', hereafter referred to as BTMOM, has been waiting in the wings at Chaosium for some time, their production schedule stalled by the gaming industry's ongoing hassles. Currently in the final stages of production, this review is based on a pre-release playtest.

BTMOM is a CoC campaign of impressive size, coming in at 400+ A4 pages without artwork or inserts. The campaign is based around the Starkweather-Moore expedition to Antarctica of 1933, as described by Lovecraft in the classic novel 'At The Mountains Of Madness'. Players may use existing or new chracaters to join the expedition, which intends to follow in the footsteps of the original, tragic Dyer-Lake expedition of the story.

BTMOM is probably the most detailed scenario ever produced for CoC, being full of meticulously researched background data and historical information. The factual and fictional material blends seamlessly together to provide an incredible narrative both for Keepers to read and for players to participate in. The plot is strong, fairly watertight (only one inconsistency discovered so far) and offers many opportunities for roleplaying. The scenario begins in New York as the expedition recruits and prepares for the voyage to Antarctica. Said voyage is not without incident but it is the Antarctic stages which gradually introduce the true horror at the Pole via a number of chilling events which become increasingly dangerous to life and sanity. Players and Keepers alike will be swept up by the audacity of the plot and the implications of their actions for the future of mankind. Serious stuff indeed!

One possible downside of BTMOM is that PC actions are limited by the Antarctic environment; however the sense of isolation this creates only heightens the tension of the game and leads to improved roleplaying and PC-NPC interaction within the Antarctic camps. A justified critcicism levelled at 'Horror On The Orient Express' was the linear and sometimes illogical nature of the plot. This mistake has not been repeated with the more linear, narrative elements in BTMOM. Although players may realise that they are heading into extreme danger with limited options even the most jaded demon-hunter will be quite keen to do so and will be pushing the Keeper along rather than vice-versa.

The BTMOM authors are also due praise for their open-ended approach to the scenario. There are plenty of options included to use the closing events of the scenario to provide future plotlines for further development. It would even be possible to use major elements of BTMOM in a Delta Green setting, a possibility noted by the authors. In this case PC survivors of BTMOM would make excellent patron NPCs in the 1990s or a clandestine group of interest to Delta Green operatives.

BTMOM is suited to both beginning and experienced players but would probably benefit from a Keeper with a few scenarios under his cloak and one experienced player to assist. For beginning Keepers it could be used to kick off a new campaign (presuming there are survivors). In the hands of a competent Keeper it could end an existing one in grand style or, if feeling creative, change the direction of an ongoing campaign. In either case it would also be a good one-shot but beware! Depending on the group involved and the level of roleplaying BTMOM would probably take 12 - 24 sessions to complete, possibly longer.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Beyond The Mountains Of Madness
Author: Charles and Jan Engan Category: game Company/Publisher: Chaosium Line: Call of Cthulhu Cost: UNKNOWN Page count: Hundreds ISBN: UNKNOWN Playtest Review by Peter Devlin on 04/06/99. Genre tags: Science_fiction Horror Gothic	'Beyond The Mountains Of Madness', hereafter referred to as BTMOM, has been waiting in the wings at Chaosium for some time, their production schedule stalled by the gaming industry's ongoing hassles. Currently in the final stages of production, this review is based on a pre-release playtest. BTMOM is a CoC campaign of impressive size, coming in at 400+ A4 pages without artwork or inserts. The campaign is based around the Starkweather-Moore expedition to Antarctica of 1933, as described by Lovecraft in the classic novel 'At The Mountains Of Madness'. Players may use existing or new chracaters to join the expedition, which intends to follow in the footsteps of the original, tragic Dyer-Lake expedition of the story. BTMOM is probably the most detailed scenario ever produced for CoC, being full of meticulously researched background data and historical information. The factual and fictional material blends seamlessly together to provide an incredible narrative both for Keepers to read and for players to participate in. The plot is strong, fairly watertight (only one inconsistency discovered so far) and offers many opportunities for roleplaying. The scenario begins in New York as the expedition recruits and prepares for the voyage to Antarctica. Said voyage is not without incident but it is the Antarctic stages which gradually introduce the true horror at the Pole via a number of chilling events which become increasingly dangerous to life and sanity. Players and Keepers alike will be swept up by the audacity of the plot and the implications of their actions for the future of mankind. Serious stuff indeed! One possible downside of BTMOM is that PC actions are limited by the Antarctic environment; however the sense of isolation this creates only heightens the tension of the game and leads to improved roleplaying and PC-NPC interaction within the Antarctic camps. A justified critcicism levelled at 'Horror On The Orient Express' was the linear and sometimes illogical nature of the plot. This mistake has not been repeated with the more linear, narrative elements in BTMOM. Although players may realise that they are heading into extreme danger with limited options even the most jaded demon-hunter will be quite keen to do so and will be pushing the Keeper along rather than vice-versa. The BTMOM authors are also due praise for their open-ended approach to the scenario. There are plenty of options included to use the closing events of the scenario to provide future plotlines for further development. It would even be possible to use major elements of BTMOM in a Delta Green setting, a possibility noted by the authors. In this case PC survivors of BTMOM would make excellent patron NPCs in the 1990s or a clandestine group of interest to Delta Green operatives. BTMOM is suited to both beginning and experienced players but would probably benefit from a Keeper with a few scenarios under his cloak and one experienced player to assist. For beginning Keepers it could be used to kick off a new campaign (presuming there are survivors). In the hands of a competent Keeper it could end an existing one in grand style or, if feeling creative, change the direction of an ongoing campaign. In either case it would also be a good one-shot but beware! Depending on the group involved and the level of roleplaying BTMOM would probably take 12 - 24 sessions to complete, possibly longer. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)