The Inside Scoop on Gaming

"Secrets" is a collection of four short, single-evening adventures for Call of Cthulhu, ostensibly set in the 1990's. The threats, while sinister and creepy, occur on a smaller scale than the ruthless cults and Mythos gods that crop up in a lot of the "leave no survivors"-type adventures Call of Cthulhu regulars are probably used to, and the mysteries can be solved with a minimum of loss to PC life, limb, and sanity.

Presumably because of this low lethality, Chaosium has labeled the book as "suitable for beginning keepers and investigators." And it is. But even if you're an experienced keeper, "Secrets" is worth a look. While Call of Cthulhu's notoriously high PC fatality rate has been tempered a bit, there's no watering down of the chills, thrills, and, of course, secrets.

The first two adventures are especially good. One of the greatest strengths of Call of Cthulhu is that the PC's are fairly average human beings. They might be highly educated and have useful skills, but they're generally "ordinary" detectives and intellectuals placed in extraordinary situations. "Closed Casket" and "A Love in Need" capitalize on this, by presenting instances of the Mythos sweeping into the lives of average people, whether willing or not.

It would be positively churlish to spoil any of the surprises of a book called "Secrets," so forgive my not going into details, but I will say that anyone looking to give present a more complex, even sympathetic, view of the Mythos than your typical monsters and madmen provide couldn't do much better than to look here.

The second two stories, "The Unsealed Room" and "Cult of One" tend to dip into B-movie territory a bit, with less emphasis on characterization and more on the supernatural. While they're more typical Call of Cthulhu adventures, I'm not sure I like them as much, and I probably won't get around to running them until sometime after I run the first two, if at all. "The Unsealed Room," especially, relies on some extremely unlikely events and a campy setup. On the other hand, the PC's do get to speak to a 108-year-old vampire killer and get attacked by a madman with a severed, frozen human leg (with toe tag still attached!), so they're not a complete loss.

No review would be complete without picking a few nits, so here goes. My pet peeve -- sloppy writing and proofreading (hey, I have a degree in English: I have to put it to some use) -- rears its ugly head here. Right at the beginning there's a real howler, referring to the "sharp sensuality of ghouls, [whose] noses divined the secret." The mind reels at the images that brings up.

More grating are a couple of instances in which the nature of a Mythos encounter is determined by the roll of the dice. This is an irritating throwback to the "there is a 25% chance 3d6 orcs are in this room" style of gaming, which seems totally inappropriate here. I know some of the old Call of Cthulhu adventures did it, but that doesn't mean it's a practice that should be brought back.

These are fairly minor things, though, and they don't detract too much from an otherwise excellent bunch of quickie adventures. They would fit well into a 1920s campaign (only one adventure really _has_ to be set in the 1990s), and would also fit nicely into a Delta Green campaign, as a break from the vast alien conspiracies and triple-digit body counts Delta Green operations tend to involve.

I would recommend this book to any Call of Cthulhu keeper looking for good low-prep-time adventures, and especially to beginning keepers or experienced keepers with beginning players. There's a real lack of beginner-level Call of Cthulhu material beyond that included in the main rulebook, and hopefully this will help to fill the gap.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Secrets
Author: Brian M. Sammons Category: game Company/Publisher: Chaosium Inc. Cost: $8.95 Page count: 48 ISBN: 1-56882-100-X Capsule Review by Eric Brochu on 01/27/98. Genre tags: none	"Secrets" is a collection of four short, single-evening adventures for Call of Cthulhu, ostensibly set in the 1990's. The threats, while sinister and creepy, occur on a smaller scale than the ruthless cults and Mythos gods that crop up in a lot of the "leave no survivors"-type adventures Call of Cthulhu regulars are probably used to, and the mysteries can be solved with a minimum of loss to PC life, limb, and sanity. Presumably because of this low lethality, Chaosium has labeled the book as "suitable for beginning keepers and investigators." And it is. But even if you're an experienced keeper, "Secrets" is worth a look. While Call of Cthulhu's notoriously high PC fatality rate has been tempered a bit, there's no watering down of the chills, thrills, and, of course, secrets. The first two adventures are especially good. One of the greatest strengths of Call of Cthulhu is that the PC's are fairly average human beings. They might be highly educated and have useful skills, but they're generally "ordinary" detectives and intellectuals placed in extraordinary situations. "Closed Casket" and "A Love in Need" capitalize on this, by presenting instances of the Mythos sweeping into the lives of average people, whether willing or not. It would be positively churlish to spoil any of the surprises of a book called "Secrets," so forgive my not going into details, but I will say that anyone looking to give present a more complex, even sympathetic, view of the Mythos than your typical monsters and madmen provide couldn't do much better than to look here. The second two stories, "The Unsealed Room" and "Cult of One" tend to dip into B-movie territory a bit, with less emphasis on characterization and more on the supernatural. While they're more typical Call of Cthulhu adventures, I'm not sure I like them as much, and I probably won't get around to running them until sometime after I run the first two, if at all. "The Unsealed Room," especially, relies on some extremely unlikely events and a campy setup. On the other hand, the PC's do get to speak to a 108-year-old vampire killer and get attacked by a madman with a severed, frozen human leg (with toe tag still attached!), so they're not a complete loss. No review would be complete without picking a few nits, so here goes. My pet peeve -- sloppy writing and proofreading (hey, I have a degree in English: I have to put it to some use) -- rears its ugly head here. Right at the beginning there's a real howler, referring to the "sharp sensuality of ghouls, [whose] noses divined the secret." The mind reels at the images that brings up. More grating are a couple of instances in which the nature of a Mythos encounter is determined by the roll of the dice. This is an irritating throwback to the "there is a 25% chance 3d6 orcs are in this room" style of gaming, which seems totally inappropriate here. I know some of the old Call of Cthulhu adventures did it, but that doesn't mean it's a practice that should be brought back. These are fairly minor things, though, and they don't detract too much from an otherwise excellent bunch of quickie adventures. They would fit well into a 1920s campaign (only one adventure really _has_ to be set in the 1990s), and would also fit nicely into a Delta Green campaign, as a break from the vast alien conspiracies and triple-digit body counts Delta Green operations tend to involve. I would recommend this book to any Call of Cthulhu keeper looking for good low-prep-time adventures, and especially to beginning keepers or experienced keepers with beginning players. There's a real lack of beginner-level Call of Cthulhu material beyond that included in the main rulebook, and hopefully this will help to fill the gap. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)