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Terror From the Stars contains a pair of scenarios set in South America. Each involves an archaeological expedition, wilderness travel, and lengthy journeys through even stranger places (like vast underground caverns and the Dreamlands). Bear this in mind when deciding whether to pick up this supplement. If your Investigators are all hard-boiled private eyes or bookish professors, this is not the book for you. You need some real Indy-types to make this work.

The first scenario in Terror is "The Pits of Bendal-Dolum." This scenario involves a lengthy journey, high SAN losses, and a trip to the Dreamlands. It is also heavily railroaded. I actually played an Investigator in this scenario a long time ago, and I didn't notice at the time how linear it was, which is probably a good sign. In a way, it's a travelogue, and it can be the kick-off scenario for a larger campaign. If the Keeper is willing to invest some time in his descriptions of the strange and eerie locations in this scenario, it could be well worthwhile.

The other scenario is "The Temple of the Moon," which is a lot more complicated and confusing than "Bendal-Dolum." When a friend (yes, one of those friends sends an Investigator a parcel with a mysterious artifact in it, it's off to Peru in search of knowledge and treasure. Complicating things along the way are Indian cultists, art smugglers, and a missing professor. This investigation has a very Indiana Jones feel to it - there is, for example, a map which can only be obtained by combining three pieces of an ancient tablet and placing them in a certain location under a full moon.

The site the Investigators arrive it is swarming with mi-go, but there ought to be just enough to give the Investigators a hard time. Mi-go are pretty fragile, and in the wilds of Peru gun-toting investigators actually make sense. These weird and enigmatic villains also add to the sense of unearthliness, a tone best captured for me by the late Kevin Ramos's two-page spread on pp.36-37. The whole thing ends in a fight to the finish which could conceivably end with all the investigators being massacred. But such is Call of Cthulhu.

Terror comes with an extra bonus - a 12-page folder called the "Field Manual of the Theron Marks Society." This is a mildly humorous look at a group of investigators who decided to organize their monster-hunting efforts a little better. It reminds me a little of The Unspeakable Oath's Randolph Pierce Foundation, except that the Theron Marks Society seems to know a little too much about the Mythos. I can't see it ever being used as an in-game document, as the notes attached to it suggest, but it provides a few good ideas and a few laughs.

These two scenarios were eventually reprinted elsewhere (either in Cthulhu Classics or Curse of Cthulhu, I can't remember which), so the only reason to get this supplement rather than the reprint - other than finding it at a bargain price - is the "Theron Marks Manual," which isn't really worth going out of your way.

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

Terror from the Stars
Author: Scott Aniolowski, Doug Lyons, "Andre Stalin," Michael Szymanski. Illustrated by Kevin Ramos Category: game Company/Publisher: Chaosium Line: Call of Cthulhu Page count: 40 12-page insert ISBN: 0-933635-11-7 SKU: 2313 Capsule Review by James Holloway on 05/02/00. Genre tags: Historical Horror	Terror From the Stars contains a pair of scenarios set in South America. Each involves an archaeological expedition, wilderness travel, and lengthy journeys through even stranger places (like vast underground caverns and the Dreamlands). Bear this in mind when deciding whether to pick up this supplement. If your Investigators are all hard-boiled private eyes or bookish professors, this is not the book for you. You need some real Indy-types to make this work. The first scenario in Terror is "The Pits of Bendal-Dolum." This scenario involves a lengthy journey, high SAN losses, and a trip to the Dreamlands. It is also heavily railroaded. I actually played an Investigator in this scenario a long time ago, and I didn't notice at the time how linear it was, which is probably a good sign. In a way, it's a travelogue, and it can be the kick-off scenario for a larger campaign. If the Keeper is willing to invest some time in his descriptions of the strange and eerie locations in this scenario, it could be well worthwhile. The other scenario is "The Temple of the Moon," which is a lot more complicated and confusing than "Bendal-Dolum." When a friend (yes, one of those friends sends an Investigator a parcel with a mysterious artifact in it, it's off to Peru in search of knowledge and treasure. Complicating things along the way are Indian cultists, art smugglers, and a missing professor. This investigation has a very Indiana Jones feel to it - there is, for example, a map which can only be obtained by combining three pieces of an ancient tablet and placing them in a certain location under a full moon. The site the Investigators arrive it is swarming with mi-go, but there ought to be just enough to give the Investigators a hard time. Mi-go are pretty fragile, and in the wilds of Peru gun-toting investigators actually make sense. These weird and enigmatic villains also add to the sense of unearthliness, a tone best captured for me by the late Kevin Ramos's two-page spread on pp.36-37. The whole thing ends in a fight to the finish which could conceivably end with all the investigators being massacred. But such is Call of Cthulhu. Terror comes with an extra bonus - a 12-page folder called the "Field Manual of the Theron Marks Society." This is a mildly humorous look at a group of investigators who decided to organize their monster-hunting efforts a little better. It reminds me a little of The Unspeakable Oath's Randolph Pierce Foundation, except that the Theron Marks Society seems to know a little too much about the Mythos. I can't see it ever being used as an in-game document, as the notes attached to it suggest, but it provides a few good ideas and a few laughs. These two scenarios were eventually reprinted elsewhere (either in Cthulhu Classics or Curse of Cthulhu, I can't remember which), so the only reason to get this supplement rather than the reprint - other than finding it at a bargain price - is the "Theron Marks Manual," which isn't really worth going out of your way. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Terror from the Stars