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The strength of Cthulhu has always been in its scenarios. Most other games can bury you with sourcebooks, world books, and a myriad of other sources, but Cthulhu comes with scenarios for playing. Scenarios are what Cthulhu does first and best. This is a game designed for playing.

This is one of the latest books released for Cthulhu, and it is a match for both the 1920s Investigator's Companion, The Compact Arkham Unveiled, and Return to Dunwich. Presumably a new judge/keeper and her players/investigators would get the basic books and start running around in Lovecraft's 1920s Massachusetts. These are all adequate scenarios, but they are hurt because they rely upon other source material for details. I have never liked feeling obligated to buy one product in order to better understand another product (this runs rampant in the World of Darkness).

The three scenarios are somewhat likable. The first involves some undead running around in a small town. It is nice, but it feels linear, which might be an advantage to new keepers. The second scenario involves ghouls, and truth be told-- I am sick and tired of ghouls. You've got ghouls in Realm of Shadows from Pagan Publishing (an excellent scenario by the way for 20.95), and in another recent Chaosium release Shadows. It involves a conflict between some ghouls and some sorcerers in Arkham. That would be all well and good, except it seems that the sorcerers are detailed in The Complete Arkham Unveiled. That just doesn't cut it for me. I feel like the investigators in this game are being railroaded into taking certain sides, and I don't like it. The final scenario is nicely horrific, and features a lot of investigating. I really liked this scenario because it required investigators to use their heads.

This is a nice package that seems better designed for beginning keepers and investigators. One scenario is average, one is below average (simply because it requires another book for more information), and one is above average. This book gets a "C."

A much better book of scenarios for Cthulhu is Secrets. These scenarios are set in the 1990s, and they feature some real mysteries and dilemmas, with which to confront the investigators. For 8.95 you really can't go wrong. You get more, and less bloated scenarios, that really seem to show off both the mind blasting horror of Cthulhu, with the thrill of investigation, and a twist of "Oh my God-- what do we do now?"

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Dead Reckonings<
Author: by J. Todd Kingrea, Kevin Ross, John Snyder, and Richard Watts Category: game Company/Publisher: Chaosium Cost: 14.95 Page count: 80 ISBN: 1-56882-123-9 Capsule Review by Scott Shafer on 05/30/98. Genre tags: none	The strength of Cthulhu has always been in its scenarios. Most other games can bury you with sourcebooks, world books, and a myriad of other sources, but Cthulhu comes with scenarios for playing. Scenarios are what Cthulhu does first and best. This is a game designed for playing. This is one of the latest books released for Cthulhu, and it is a match for both the 1920s Investigator's Companion, The Compact Arkham Unveiled, and Return to Dunwich. Presumably a new judge/keeper and her players/investigators would get the basic books and start running around in Lovecraft's 1920s Massachusetts. These are all adequate scenarios, but they are hurt because they rely upon other source material for details. I have never liked feeling obligated to buy one product in order to better understand another product (this runs rampant in the World of Darkness). The three scenarios are somewhat likable. The first involves some undead running around in a small town. It is nice, but it feels linear, which might be an advantage to new keepers. The second scenario involves ghouls, and truth be told-- I am sick and tired of ghouls. You've got ghouls in Realm of Shadows from Pagan Publishing (an excellent scenario by the way for 20.95), and in another recent Chaosium release Shadows. It involves a conflict between some ghouls and some sorcerers in Arkham. That would be all well and good, except it seems that the sorcerers are detailed in The Complete Arkham Unveiled. That just doesn't cut it for me. I feel like the investigators in this game are being railroaded into taking certain sides, and I don't like it. The final scenario is nicely horrific, and features a lot of investigating. I really liked this scenario because it required investigators to use their heads. This is a nice package that seems better designed for beginning keepers and investigators. One scenario is average, one is below average (simply because it requires another book for more information), and one is above average. This book gets a "C." A much better book of scenarios for Cthulhu is Secrets. These scenarios are set in the 1990s, and they feature some real mysteries and dilemmas, with which to confront the investigators. For 8.95 you really can't go wrong. You get more, and less bloated scenarios, that really seem to show off both the mind blasting horror of Cthulhu, with the thrill of investigation, and a twist of "Oh my God-- what do we do now?" Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average)

Dead Reckonings<