Lurking Fears is a 3rd party Call of Cthulhu adventure anthology published in January of 1990, by a company called "Triad Entertainments". So why am I reviewing this, as it's 12 years old? Well, because I came across it on ebay, and couldn't find out any real info on it. I ended up buying it as part of a lot, and since there doesn't seem to be any reviews of it anywhere on the net, I thought I'd write one, just for posterity, or in case someone else comes across it and wonders what's in it.
They still seem to be selling it (as of late Aug, 2002). Remarkably, cheap, too.
http://www.triadentertainments.com/cheap_book/cheap_book.htm
It's softcover, probably around 144 pages or so. I can't tell, because the last 20 or so pages are meant to be handouts, and aren't numbered. It's for 1920s Call of Cthulhu, and there are 6 adventures, some of which are linked.
The book has the look of something from a vanity press. What, exactly, I don't know, but I had an aunt who had a lot of her books published in one of those, and that is what this book reminds me of. There is a lot of artwork in it, some of which is good, most of which is so-so. There are also plenty of maps, most of which have that 80s computery look - very pixelated because of the low resolutions of the screens back then.
The first adventure, around 30 pages, is set in Florida. This one starts off with the amazingly common cliche of one PC inheriting a house in the middle of nowhere. In this case, it's a swamp town called New Dunwich.
Shockingly enough, the town turns out to be full of cultists. And it's up to the PCs to stop them.
This scenario is well detailed, but the whole premise really stinks. Why on earth would someone who inherited a piece of worthless land in a swamp in florida drop everything to go there? I certainly wouldn't. Not in 1920. There's an old joke about selling swamp land in florida. Today it might be worth something, thanks to widespread air conditioning. But back then, it was worthless.
It's also quite tough. The PCs end up having to fight a number of fairly tough foes. While the premise is most suited for a new campaign/investigator (who gets drawn into the Cthulhu mythos by accident), the high challenge level of the foes will make it hard for begining PCs to survive. It's also more of an explore and kill scenario, more commonly found in games like D&D.
The 2nd adventure is pretty short, only about 8 pages. It's set in Egypt, and revolves around the "Finger of Allah", or rather, some cultists who use it as an alter. It's picturesque enough, I guess. But again, too combat heavy.
The 3rd adventure is around 20 pages, and starts off with the nephew of an investigator getting into trouble. Personally, I hate hooks like this that require a relative suddenly surpring from out of nowhere and getting trouble. But it's not a bad adventure. It seems that a cultist has been kidnapping young men and sacrificing them to his god. It's up to the PCs to stop him and save the one PC's nephew.
This is more of an investigatory adventure, which is more along the lines of what I expect in a CoC adventure. The PCs follow clues and talk to people. There's also one red herring provided. All in all, it's pretty good. And the motive of the cultist is fairly fresh. (He's just not a degenerate or member of greenpeace or somesuch).
The 4th adventure is about 20 pages, and is something of a dungeon crawl. Basically, the PCs explore a lost temple and recover a magical artifact. That might sound too D&D-ish, but that's not uncommon in some of HPL's stuff. It's creepy enough, I think, though a bit tough. Also has a fair amount of interesting NPCs.
The 5th adventure is 25 pages or so, and builds off of the 4th. This one is hellaciously tough. Basically, this uber-bad guy, a cultist/vampire who also happens to be rich and has gathered together a bunch of other cultists and evil nasty types has a huge, dastardly plan to unleash no fewer than 20 great old ones upon the Earth.
Hopefully the PCs can stop him, but this is one of those scenarios where they would be best off if they can call in an airstrike, or at least some artillery. I don't think there is any way the PCs can actually win this scenario, at least if the GM plays the villains even half-intelligently.
The 6th and last adventure is 18 pages, and is apparently what is depicted on the cover of the book. To sum up, it's basically The Blob does Arkham. Unlike the blob, the monster in this can die, but it's tough. It also is intelligent, and can separate itself. So the PCs can never really know if they've killed all of the monster. This makes me wonder if Chaosium should come out with an "Atomic Cthulhu", set in the '50s, after they have put out "Pulp Cthulhu". I would buy it, anyway.
The last 20 pages or so are player handouts. There's a ad for you to buy the handouts for $5, but I doubt this offer is still valid.
To sum up, this is a mixed bag. Most of the adventures are interesting, but quite tough and overly (I think) combat intensive. It has the feel of an amateurish production, which some like me like, but others tend to hate. Nobilis, this ain't. But I think if you get it for a couple of dollars, a couple of the scenarios are worth running as is, and a couple others can be salvaged with a slightly different plot/set up.
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