UNSEEN MASTERS has been reviewed before,(http://www.rpg.net/news reviews/reviews/rev_3919.html and http://www.rpg.net/news reviews/reviews/rev_3863.html) but I wanted to give my opinions on the book from a psychological point of view. I am finishing a Masters degree in Psychology. I also have been playing Call of Cthulhu for 8 years. When I came across this book, I was extremely impressed. I have also played AD&D, CHAMPIONS, SHADOWRUN, PARANOIA, GAMMA WORLD, and DEADLANDS: I have never seen a set of scenarios done in this way before, in terms of psychological themes, intricate plots, double-twists, and clear instructions how a keeper can enact the scenarios. The adventures rank with those produced by Pagan Publishing. I may be biased because of my field of work, but even so, UNSEEN MASTERS is fantastic.
I will try to confine my review to why I think the book works so well in terms of its use of psychology. The book doesn't just use psychology as content for readers to use in the game, the book itself is set up to be enjoyed because the adventures, even the reading of them, work on deep psychological principles.
(Yes, sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. Well, let me say if role-playing scenarios were cigars, then UNSEEN MASTERS is the finest Havana you can find.)
This book works on many levels.
Media references are hidden in the text. This includes sci-fi and horror TV shows and films ranging back decades. The effect on me personally was that of having the text keep me engaged in a variety of ways: one for reading the evil scenarios (which are quite well written besides a few typos), and a sort of meta-game of spot the cultural reference. The good thing is that these 'hits' of media shots will come out in the play of the game too, allowing players the fun of spotting them as well. These are not constant, but pop up time to time, and from my experience of running the WILD HUNT, did not detract at all. Perhaps this is not to everyone's tastes, but it is easy to remove these references. The scenarios have hidden traps built in for players who start falling back on information outside the presented material within the adventure. What I mean is that there are many red herrings, potentially deadly, that investigators would not pursue except for the fact the PLAYER starts trying to out guess the plot by recognizing a film or whatever. I think it is a very crafty method of tripping up players. Actually, the author even states that is the point!
Another aspect is the amount of detail. This detail is dense but not onerous. Of course, it cannot anticipate everything a PC can come up with but it comes very close! Even every NPC has a few lines of text describing information, motivation, and how they can fit into the overall plot. This includes seemingly minor 1-shot characters that have little relevance beyond a quick interrogation. The information is grouped with NPC statistics that allow quick reference. The optional details for performing autopsies, psychological assessments, researching the Bible, and more, as little boxed texts peppered throughout the book are wonderful. There is a lot in UNSEEN MASTERS that can be used as source material beyond the three scenarios.
Read closely some of the skills the NPCs possess for a good laugh! One of my favorites is 'Ogle Woman Customer.' In fact, one of the things I like about UNSEEN MASTERS is that it blends humor with the horror. In my opinion, it never detracted from the dramatic situations presented. It actually heightened the terror at times. Some of the red herrings in the book start with a building of suspense, mounting to a tense climax, and end with an ironic punch line. Often, the true evil is under the very noses of the investigators (and I mean RIGHT UNDER), which pounces when they least expect it. This effect also can get players a bit paranoid in that eventually they can be unclear what trails of investigation will lead where. It is through the actual playing of the scenarios where you can experience this – just reading the scenario will not demonstrate this hidden aspect to the adventures.
The work is full of Jungian depth psychology material. This is especially true of the first scenario, THE WILD HUNT. Although many RPG enthusiasts may be familiar with Jung's concepts of archetypes (which Campbell bases many of his works in comparative mythology, such as boiling down the hero archetype), he also spent considerable time writing on alchemy and its symbols with connections to psychological mechanisms. Ballon seems to have picked up themes within the numerous sources he combines to bring depth to the scenario. The main adversaries of the piece and their origins tie in so well with the alchemical descriptions of Jung and ancient philosophers that one must wonder if Frank Belknap Long was a student of depth psychology. I assume he was, since many of his works, such as Journey into Darkness, do use the concepts of the collective unconscious as plot devices. Tying in the Night Strangler material of the mad alchemist villain of the second pilot film seems to fit in perfectly. I suggest those interested in learning more about Jung pick up MAN AND HIS SYMBOLS. There is also an entire book also summing up Jung's studies in alchemy (titled JUNG ON ALCHEMY).
The Jungian connections continue into the second scenario, THE TRUTH SHALL SET YOU FREE. However, it is more a compilation of Philip K. Dick themes, especially of his VALIS trilogy. However, Philip K. Dick used numerous Jungian elements in his stories as well. The scenario Ballon weaves contains a brilliant transposition of VALIS into the Cthulhu mythos and it is frightening! I am surprised he didn't state the Sacred Light was pink in color (I do not plan to recount the entire plot of VALIS – I highly suggest all people who love stories based on the theme of reality versus fantasy to pick up every book PKD has written). The scenario does tie in the Gnostic movement, a demonic and "divine" invasion, casting madness as an alternative viewpoint for seeing the cosmos, and creates an amazing sense of paranoia that goes beyond the common government ET conspiracies other RPG books have put out. The material on schizophrenia is well presented, considering it must tie in the supernatural due to being in a Cthulhu Mythos world, and is in keeping with PKD's interpretation of psychosis. There are also numerous in-jokes and references to the 'real' reality in which we gamers live, such as coming across a RPG game called Dark Worlds (read The Call of Cthulhu) in a comic book shop (I added in a supplement called INVISIBLE LORDS (read UNSEEN MASTERS) in a rack, containing shockingly similar plots to what the players are experiencing, without it giving away any answers)! Again, Ballon has chosen a variety of different sources that all deal with the question of What is Reality?, all the way down to a cartoon from the 1960s as the source of a major villain. The fact that this scenario has such diverse material from M R James, Umberto Eco, and PKD working in harmony again speaks to the amount of thought and creativity UNSEEN MASTERS contains. This scenario is my favorite out of the three, in that it has the potential to create numerous differing points of view for each player. That it is something I have never seen done so well in any RPG adventure I have ever read or played. As I said before, this goes beyond any conspiracy scenario I have seen, including DELTA GREEN. The layering of the different 'realities' within the plot that go from our 'real' world to the Cthulhu Mythos world to the world of psychosis to the world of Dreams.
The third scenario, COMING OF AGE, seems to be tied into Freudian themes of Oedipal complexes, repetition of psychic trauma, and separation issues of children from mothers. Maybe I am over analyzing this adventure, but it does involve major family system dynamics and symbols of primitive defense mechanisms. The scenario contains a fresh redoing of having a relative get the PCs involved in a case. In fact, it becomes a core theme to the adventure. One can also see a Jungian archetype of the Devouring Mother portrayed by a villainess last seen in Masks of Nyarlathotep.
I really enjoyed the source material on psychology and psychiatry. It is short and concise, and gives enough information to raise the level of use of these skills in many Cthulhu scenarios. I can say it is a very accurate summation of skills.
What are the bad points to the book? From the psychological point of view, none! I did pick up typos and grammar misuse, but that is all. I suppose the nature of the book is not for everyone either, in that it has the type of scenarios that need an experienced keeper to truly make the adventures work. Because the plots are intricate, despite all the text on how to run the scenarios, new keepers may be a bit overwhelmed. It is hard for me to say, I found the scenarios easy to run, but I have been playing Call of Cthulhu for a while.
Overall, I agree with the previous reviewers that this book is a 5/5 for both style and content. There are all sorts of layers within it that make it very unique, very fun, and deserving of some sort of award for imbuing a role-playing game with such depth. Maybe even an award for the most evil psychological adventures published in years.
Raymond Karam
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