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Blood Brothers 2 is the sequel to the popular Blood Brothers supplement for Call of Cthulhu, by Chaosium. It is a collection of 9 adventures reproducing plots and storylines similar to those of conventional B-movies. It even reproduces some of the cinemtic techniques (and mistakes) of the genre. As it says prominently on the cover it isn't Mythos connected.

It starts by the conventional clear credits. One thing that worried me was that only the playtesters for three adventures were credited. I sure hope this doesn't mean that the other adventures weren't playtested. Then there is an introduction by Lynn Willis explaining the purpose of the adventures and making a few suggestions.

Now the goodies. We find 4 pages of previews. These are the trailers we are used to watching when we go to the cinema. There is a preview for each of the adventures, each one giving a dramatic glimpse of the adventure without giving it out. Most are very well done and will certainly whet the appetite of your players.

Then follows the adventures. Each one of them is about a particular type of B movie type. Each adventure follows the same pattern of organization: an introduction, a side bar explaining the basics of the film type and suggesting some films of the genre and a full page picture depicting the poster of the film. It ends with stats for the monsters, npc's and pre-generated player characters.

The adventures

Nightmare in Silence: This adventure follows the genre of the German expressionist film of the early twenties. That means it is a silent movie and the players are supposed to communicate with their facial expressions and title cards. Because of that it is one of the most interesting and difficult adventures to stage. You really have to make sure that your players are the type to be thrilled by this kind of adventure and are good roleplayers enough to sustain the plot.

Chateau of Blood - This one concerns the Hammer horror films of the 60s and 70s, it is probably one of the easier adventures to run since it follows closely the CoC type of adventures (investigation and action) and has a few twists that will keep your players guessing.

An Alien Kicked Sand In My Face - An adventure with such a name can only be humorous, and I doubt you will see a puzzling or anxious look in your players faces. It is dubbed a film of teenage horror at the beach. I have never seen such a film but the adventure sure makes them look really idiot. An adventure to play for laughs. Make sure your players have their sense of humors turned on for the night.

Alive and Kicking - A very European adventure featuring soccer, British settings, mature scenes and unsettling characters. It has a dark, disturbing atmosphere. It is on of my favorites.

El Tigre, y la Pirámede de Destrucci--n - From Europe to Central America. Cthulhu really is an international game. This is an adventure about Mexican Wrestling Movies(no comment, really!)

The Evil Gun - And back to America, 1870s western America. Yep, it is the Spaghetti Western with its dark characters and unrelentless violence. The adventure is quite freeform. It features rules for CoC gun duels that will certainly make more than one Keeper itch for a Wild West Cthulhu campaign. Now we know were Shane Hensley got the idea for Deadlands. Also a favorite of mine.

Dead on Arrival 2 - Ah, so much we could say about the zombie movie, but unfortunately not with this adventure it is rather short. Too short to have much fun. There a few great zombie descriptions, but not enough, some good scenes but sparse and unconnected, just like it was too long a movie and they had to cut half the scenes. Unless you create a few more things to do and happen, your players won't understand a thing, and it will end in 15 minutes.

Carnival Knowledge - A strange mix of splatter movie and clown movie: Scream meets Krusty the Clown. This is a good adventure full of memorable scenes.

Simply Red - The ultimate slasher movie. Or nearly. This would be a brief encounter by CoC patterns. It bears a strong resemblance to the old favorite Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It features some of the most gruesome descriptions I have seen on paper.

To finish in beauty, the book features tickets for each of the films that you can send to your friends, and special character sheets.

In general, most of the adventures try to reproduce the clichés of the movies genres they depict while keeping the things interesting and unpredictable. Apart a couple of failures, most achieve this and are very well done. None of these adventures is a serious candidate for the best CoC adventure ever, but most are far better that most of the films they are inspired by. The art is scarce. There are only the posters, which are great, the PC pics, which are adequate, and a few other illustrations, which are strange.

Overall conclusion

Well, if you are looking for a collection of adventures to add to your campaign, BB2 isn't the book for you. If you want a full campaign BB2 also isn't the book for you. But, if you are looking for a good collection of adventures to start people in the fantastic world of RPGs, this is for you. It features one of the simplest and more intuitive rule systems ever devised, pre-generated characters with clear motivations and familiar settings which will make the beginning roleplayer feel confortable without having to read hundreds of pages of background and creating a well-adjusted character.

Also, if you want a book of adventures that you can use when your players arrive unexpectedly for a one-shot session and you have nothing prepared, buy it too. The settings are familiar so you hardly need to explain it. The characters are pre-generated so there is no need of losing time creating them. And the adventures are short enough (6-10 pages) that you can read them in 10-20 minutes and start playing, or, even better, read them as you are running them and surprise yourself too.

And finally, and this goes without saying, if you are a fan of b-movies or a collector of roleplaying curiosities...

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Blood Brothers 2
Author: Gillan, Love, Ho, Grundy, Rowland, Ross, Monroe, Kluskens, Aniolowski, Watts, Willis, Brooks, Chase, Geier, Gibbons Category: game Company/Publisher: Chaosium, Inc Line: Call of Cthulhu Cost: $18,95 Page count: 125 ISBN: 0933635-91-5 SKU: CHA2340 Capsule Review by Jorge Ferrao on 05/30/00. Genre tags: Horror	Blood Brothers 2 is the sequel to the popular Blood Brothers supplement for Call of Cthulhu, by Chaosium. It is a collection of 9 adventures reproducing plots and storylines similar to those of conventional B-movies. It even reproduces some of the cinemtic techniques (and mistakes) of the genre. As it says prominently on the cover it isn't Mythos connected. It starts by the conventional clear credits. One thing that worried me was that only the playtesters for three adventures were credited. I sure hope this doesn't mean that the other adventures weren't playtested. Then there is an introduction by Lynn Willis explaining the purpose of the adventures and making a few suggestions. Now the goodies. We find 4 pages of previews. These are the trailers we are used to watching when we go to the cinema. There is a preview for each of the adventures, each one giving a dramatic glimpse of the adventure without giving it out. Most are very well done and will certainly whet the appetite of your players. Then follows the adventures. Each one of them is about a particular type of B movie type. Each adventure follows the same pattern of organization: an introduction, a side bar explaining the basics of the film type and suggesting some films of the genre and a full page picture depicting the poster of the film. It ends with stats for the monsters, npc's and pre-generated player characters. The adventures Nightmare in Silence: This adventure follows the genre of the German expressionist film of the early twenties. That means it is a silent movie and the players are supposed to communicate with their facial expressions and title cards. Because of that it is one of the most interesting and difficult adventures to stage. You really have to make sure that your players are the type to be thrilled by this kind of adventure and are good roleplayers enough to sustain the plot. Chateau of Blood - This one concerns the Hammer horror films of the 60s and 70s, it is probably one of the easier adventures to run since it follows closely the CoC type of adventures (investigation and action) and has a few twists that will keep your players guessing. An Alien Kicked Sand In My Face - An adventure with such a name can only be humorous, and I doubt you will see a puzzling or anxious look in your players faces. It is dubbed a film of teenage horror at the beach. I have never seen such a film but the adventure sure makes them look really idiot. An adventure to play for laughs. Make sure your players have their sense of humors turned on for the night. Alive and Kicking - A very European adventure featuring soccer, British settings, mature scenes and unsettling characters. It has a dark, disturbing atmosphere. It is on of my favorites. El Tigre, y la Pirámede de Destrucci--n - From Europe to Central America. Cthulhu really is an international game. This is an adventure about Mexican Wrestling Movies(no comment, really!) The Evil Gun - And back to America, 1870s western America. Yep, it is the Spaghetti Western with its dark characters and unrelentless violence. The adventure is quite freeform. It features rules for CoC gun duels that will certainly make more than one Keeper itch for a Wild West Cthulhu campaign. Now we know were Shane Hensley got the idea for Deadlands. Also a favorite of mine. Dead on Arrival 2 - Ah, so much we could say about the zombie movie, but unfortunately not with this adventure it is rather short. Too short to have much fun. There a few great zombie descriptions, but not enough, some good scenes but sparse and unconnected, just like it was too long a movie and they had to cut half the scenes. Unless you create a few more things to do and happen, your players won't understand a thing, and it will end in 15 minutes. Carnival Knowledge - A strange mix of splatter movie and clown movie: Scream meets Krusty the Clown. This is a good adventure full of memorable scenes. Simply Red - The ultimate slasher movie. Or nearly. This would be a brief encounter by CoC patterns. It bears a strong resemblance to the old favorite Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It features some of the most gruesome descriptions I have seen on paper. To finish in beauty, the book features tickets for each of the films that you can send to your friends, and special character sheets. In general, most of the adventures try to reproduce the clichés of the movies genres they depict while keeping the things interesting and unpredictable. Apart a couple of failures, most achieve this and are very well done. None of these adventures is a serious candidate for the best CoC adventure ever, but most are far better that most of the films they are inspired by. The art is scarce. There are only the posters, which are great, the PC pics, which are adequate, and a few other illustrations, which are strange. Overall conclusion Well, if you are looking for a collection of adventures to add to your campaign, BB2 isn't the book for you. If you want a full campaign BB2 also isn't the book for you. But, if you are looking for a good collection of adventures to start people in the fantastic world of RPGs, this is for you. It features one of the simplest and more intuitive rule systems ever devised, pre-generated characters with clear motivations and familiar settings which will make the beginning roleplayer feel confortable without having to read hundreds of pages of background and creating a well-adjusted character. Also, if you want a book of adventures that you can use when your players arrive unexpectedly for a one-shot session and you have nothing prepared, buy it too. The settings are familiar so you hardly need to explain it. The characters are pre-generated so there is no need of losing time creating them. And the adventures are short enough (6-10 pages) that you can read them in 10-20 minutes and start playing, or, even better, read them as you are running them and surprise yourself too. And finally, and this goes without saying, if you are a fan of b-movies or a collector of roleplaying curiosities... Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)