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The Dreaming Stone | ||
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The Dreaming Stone
Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 12/07/01
Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 2 (Sparse) This could have been a great introductory campaign for the Dreamlands setting, instead it is merely the skeleton of one. Product: The Dreaming Stone Author: Kevin Ross Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Chaosium Inc Line: Call of Cuthulhu Cost: Page count: 64 Year published: 1997 ISBN: 1-56882-101-8 SKU: 2368 Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Graham Donald on 12/07/01 Genre tags: Fantasy Horror Conspiracy |
Chaosium has printed only one campaign dedicated to the Dreamlands setting, this is "The Dreaming Stone".
In it the players are summoned to the house of an NPC rival (the GM is advised to introduce this character or a similar one to their campaign before the adventure for best effect), to help him identify a strange artifact(the dreaming stone of the title). Once arriving they find the NPC asleep in front of the artifact, soon they too are asleep and entering the Dreamlands. Upon entering the Dreamlands they learn that their plight is part of a plan by the dread Nyarlathotep and that they must find the rival and the stone he carries before it is too late, lest Nyarlathotep steals their forms for his own use (e.g. the PC's will have to draw up new character sheets). The PC's are drawn into a chase that leads from the Enchanted Forrest to the Forbidden Land and on to the Dark Side of the Moon before returning to the Waking World and a confrontation with Nyarlathotep himself. This adventure is intended as an introduction to the Dreamlands, thus making up for the lack of such a scenario in "The Complete Dreamlands". In my opinion it is only partly successful as an introduction. The physical appearance of the book is satisfactory, there were no typos and the illustrations/maps were adequate for the task. The first problem lies with the handouts, in most Call of Cuthulhu scenario books, handouts are repeated at the back of the book for ease of photocopying, this is not done here. Five maps are provided, these are useful, but I feel that an oportunity was missed, maps should have been provided for the settlements the PC's visit on their adventure (Ulthar, Thran, Hlanith, Celephais & Dyath-Leen). As an introductory plot, "The Dreaming Stone", certainly succeeds in showing the players several of the major regions of the Dreamlands, but it does not succeed in another area, introductory adventures should provide many plot hooks for later exploration, this adventure has only one, an NPC, Alzen, turns out to be a god, stripped of memory and power by an unknown enemy. The plot is described in the blurb as an "epic adventure", in fact it is only the skeleton of one, requiring much work on the part of the GM to flesh out. It is also too linear, only one side plot is included in the book, the one involving Alzen, mentioned above. The stakes are too high for an introductory scenario, the PC's are fighting for their continued existance. Worse at several points, the GM is encouraged to "fudge" the dice rolls to ensure that the PC's reach the final confrontation, a confrontation that is both anti-climactic (unless the GM can protray Nyarlathotep with appropriate menace) and requires that the PC's hand over to their opponent, the artifact they have spent the adventure trying to obtain. In conclusion, if Call of Cuthulhu GM's are looking for a plot to provide the basis for a Dreamlands campaign, then "The Dreaming Stone" provides that. If they are looking for a Dreamlands campaign on the scale of "The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep", then "The Dreaming Stone" is not it. For a less risky introduction, GM's should try to locate "Dreamlands", Third Edition and the adventure, "To Sleep, Perchance to Dream", this can easily be expanded to provide the travelog contained in "The Dreaming Stone". | |
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