The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This adventure is going to be tricky to fit into your campaign. It's set in Britain in 1983-1984, and it contains a lot of references to things (like the Falkands war) which may be hard to update. In addition, developments like the internet, cellular phones, and Windows may really change the way some of the investigation is played out in this scenario.

The plot centers around a mysterious vision which a friend of the investigators has received, which he believes relates to the mysterious disappearance of an ecological research vessel in the Antarctic. Unfortunately, someone stabs the poor fellow before he can tell the characters the whole story. The investigators are assumed to break into the deceased's apartment, pick up the clues, and proceed from there.

Eventually, the investigators hire on with a ship taking the same route as the vanished vessel, ending in a confrontation with blasphemous horrors on a small island. There's also a rather good scene in which the ship's crew eat some ergot-infested bread and go berserk, chasing each other through the ship with axes and cleavers and whatnot. While effective, this is not how I understand ergot to work - "Devil's Children" used it to considerably greater effect.

I'm also a little concerned about the use of shoggoths in this adventure. I mean, we all love shoggoths - they're oozy and scary, and they're very "Lovecraft," but they're powerful as all hell. Unless the investigators are some kind of magical ninja commandos, they're going to be in serious danger of not coming back from this scenario.

If this seems like a short summary, it's a short adventure - 16 pages counting maps, handouts (printed twice), cover page, and big illustrations. It seems like a scenario which was a little too long for a White Dwarf article (damn, I miss the old WD) and got padded out to booklet size.

The layout of this scenario is very clean and readable, and the art, by Brian Williams, is quite good. I think I got my copy on the used shelf at my local store for a buck - and at that price, there are some worthwhile ideas to mine. If, for whatever reason, you're running a campaign set in Thatcher's Britain, it might be worth even more - maybe two or three dollars.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Trail of the Loathsome Slime
Author: Marcus Rowland Category: game Company/Publisher: Games Workshop Line: Call of Cthulhu Page count: 16 SKU: MM1 01029 Capsule Review by James Holloway on 04/23/00. Genre tags: Modern_day Horror	This adventure is going to be tricky to fit into your campaign. It's set in Britain in 1983-1984, and it contains a lot of references to things (like the Falkands war) which may be hard to update. In addition, developments like the internet, cellular phones, and Windows may really change the way some of the investigation is played out in this scenario. The plot centers around a mysterious vision which a friend of the investigators has received, which he believes relates to the mysterious disappearance of an ecological research vessel in the Antarctic. Unfortunately, someone stabs the poor fellow before he can tell the characters the whole story. The investigators are assumed to break into the deceased's apartment, pick up the clues, and proceed from there. Eventually, the investigators hire on with a ship taking the same route as the vanished vessel, ending in a confrontation with blasphemous horrors on a small island. There's also a rather good scene in which the ship's crew eat some ergot-infested bread and go berserk, chasing each other through the ship with axes and cleavers and whatnot. While effective, this is not how I understand ergot to work - "Devil's Children" used it to considerably greater effect. I'm also a little concerned about the use of shoggoths in this adventure. I mean, we all love shoggoths - they're oozy and scary, and they're very "Lovecraft," but they're powerful as all hell. Unless the investigators are some kind of magical ninja commandos, they're going to be in serious danger of not coming back from this scenario. If this seems like a short summary, it's a short adventure - 16 pages counting maps, handouts (printed twice), cover page, and big illustrations. It seems like a scenario which was a little too long for a White Dwarf article (damn, I miss the old WD) and got padded out to booklet size. The layout of this scenario is very clean and readable, and the art, by Brian Williams, is quite good. I think I got my copy on the used shelf at my local store for a buck - and at that price, there are some worthwhile ideas to mine. If, for whatever reason, you're running a campaign set in Thatcher's Britain, it might be worth even more - maybe two or three dollars. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)

Trail of the Loathsome Slime