Review of Kleine Völker - Düstere Kobolde aus Erdestiefen
"Elves are
wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
[...]
No-one ever said that elves are nice." - Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies
At first glance, fairies and fairy tales might seem like an odd subject to build Call of Cthulhu adventures around. After all, ever since Victorian times, fairies have been equated with small, cute and harmless entities with butterfly wings. However, as anyone who has studied the subject to any depth is well aware, the classical fairy tales have a lot in common with horror stories - and thus, they make perfect fodder for horror gaming. And from the beginning, the Cthulhu Mythos has been about the horrible truth behind seemingly harmless myths and legends.
Thus Kleine Völker - Düstere Kobolde aus Erdestiefen - a book published by Pegasus Press, the German publisher of Call of Cthulhu that contains two adventures revolving around the "little people". And appropriately enough, the entities featured within might be small, but they are neither cute nor harmless...
This two-page section serves as a short introduction to the book, and explains the hyper-inflation in 1920s Weimar Germany - something the characters will have to cope with in the first adventure, as it takes place during the height of inflation.
This short chapter (six pages long) serves as a primer to various faerie legends and types, and it would serve well as a short introduction for anyone interested in the topic (for the full-length treatment, go and buy GURPS Faerie). All in all, 17 different types of faerie entities get short descriptions - more than enough to allow the keeper to go beyond the common stereotypes.
The first adventure revolves around the hidden truths behind the Nibelungenlied, the German national epic - and as anyone with any knowledge of the Cthuhu Mythos realizes, "hidden truths" are often rather nasty.
This is also the case in this adventure, of course. But the investigators know nothing of all this when one of their own only narrowly escapes a drive-by shooting on a January morning in 1923. The next day, he discoveres that a person he only met once has died and left him his mansion - and there are quite a few people who are upset about this. Slowly, they have to pierce the truth together, and try to outrace no less than three enemy groups (not all of them human) to a part of Western Germany which has just been invaded by France, dodging military patrols all the way, before their competitors gain access to mythical treasures capable of granting great and devastating powers.
This adventure does have some great moments, and ties in nicely with its mythological source. However, I feel that there are several serious flaws in the adventure's design that can make running it problematic:
Gestohlene Leben (Stolen Lives)
"Tasten sie die
Umgebung ab, stoßen sie auf ein unförmiges Etwas, das die
Straße blockiert..."
Compared to Siegfriedslust, Gestohlene Leben follows the traditional outline of Mythos adventures and stories closely. When their bus has a major accident, the investigators are stranded in a remote valley of the Swiss Alps. The natives speak a language none of the investigators is likely to understand, while the reverse isn't true. As the night progresses, they realize that the village they have hidden in has a deep, dark secret. Can they flee before it is too late, and possibly rescue a few innocents along the way?
Just because the story follows a traditional pattern it doesn't mean the adventure is boring. Far from it - the isolation from the rest of the world works perfectly, and the menaces are very creepy. From the beginning, there is a strong sense that something isn't right in this village, and the dread will mount until the night is over. When they escape, the investigators will breathe sighs of beliefs - but are they really safe now?
This adventure will work best as a one-shot, as the investigators are all the passengers who have decided, for one reason or another, to take the same bus across the Alps. Running this for experienced investigators should be possible, but will require some work.
Apart from all the game play aspects, there is one thing I was dissapointed with in this book. Both of the main Mythos menaces in this book are new, original creations, rather than one of the classical creatures (though a more traditional type of monster gets a guest appearance in Siegfriedslust). While I understand that inventing new elements of the Mythos is a fine traditions among Mythos writers, I would have preferred if these entities were more tightly interwoven with the main canon. There are plenty of creatures already in the Cthulhu Mythos that could have been behind the legends of the "little people" (witness the brilliant reinterpretation of the Mi-go in Cthulhu 1000 A.D.!), and Kleine Völker misses that opportunity - and thus, in my opinion, fails to live up to its full potential.
If that doesn't bother you, you could do worse than pick this book up.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
[...]
No-one ever said that elves are nice." - Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies
At first glance, fairies and fairy tales might seem like an odd subject to build Call of Cthulhu adventures around. After all, ever since Victorian times, fairies have been equated with small, cute and harmless entities with butterfly wings. However, as anyone who has studied the subject to any depth is well aware, the classical fairy tales have a lot in common with horror stories - and thus, they make perfect fodder for horror gaming. And from the beginning, the Cthulhu Mythos has been about the horrible truth behind seemingly harmless myths and legends.
Thus Kleine Völker - Düstere Kobolde aus Erdestiefen - a book published by Pegasus Press, the German publisher of Call of Cthulhu that contains two adventures revolving around the "little people". And appropriately enough, the entities featured within might be small, but they are neither cute nor harmless...
Art and Layout
The Layout is up to the usual high standards of Pegasus Press, which means that it is far above pretty much anything else in the industry. There is little original art in it - but there are so many appropriate period photographs in it that you won't mind. The cover, as usual, is a collage of photographs, notes, and other images that establish the mood nicely. The small font size and the different format (the book is nearly an inch larger than English-language CoC books) ensure a very high word count. The obligatory handouts are very nicely done, but - probably unfortunately for most of the readers of this review - they are all in German.Zu Beginn (In the Beginning)
"Als die Inflation ihren Höhepunkt erreicht hat, betrug der Wechselkurs für einen Dollar 4,2 Billionen Reichsmark..."This two-page section serves as a short introduction to the book, and explains the hyper-inflation in 1920s Weimar Germany - something the characters will have to cope with in the first adventure, as it takes place during the height of inflation.
Von Elfen, Elben, Zwergen und anderen Wesen aus den Schatten (Of Faeries, Elves, Dwarves and other Beings from the Shadows)
"Überhaupt interessieren sich Naturgeister gerne für das menschliche Intimleben und würden es nur zu gerne nachahmen. Daher wird in manchen Gegenden auch heute noch die Braut in der Hochzeitsnacht von Freunden entführt und versteckt, um sie derart vor den Nachstellungen der Elben zu retten..."This short chapter (six pages long) serves as a primer to various faerie legends and types, and it would serve well as a short introduction for anyone interested in the topic (for the full-length treatment, go and buy GURPS Faerie). All in all, 17 different types of faerie entities get short descriptions - more than enough to allow the keeper to go beyond the common stereotypes.
Siegfriedslust
"Dort, wo sich seine Wohnung befand, aber auch im weiteren Umkreis findet er dann nur noch in der schneeigen Nacht einen flachen Krater mit Bauschutt vor..."The first adventure revolves around the hidden truths behind the Nibelungenlied, the German national epic - and as anyone with any knowledge of the Cthuhu Mythos realizes, "hidden truths" are often rather nasty.
This is also the case in this adventure, of course. But the investigators know nothing of all this when one of their own only narrowly escapes a drive-by shooting on a January morning in 1923. The next day, he discoveres that a person he only met once has died and left him his mansion - and there are quite a few people who are upset about this. Slowly, they have to pierce the truth together, and try to outrace no less than three enemy groups (not all of them human) to a part of Western Germany which has just been invaded by France, dodging military patrols all the way, before their competitors gain access to mythical treasures capable of granting great and devastating powers.
This adventure does have some great moments, and ties in nicely with its mythological source. However, I feel that there are several serious flaws in the adventure's design that can make running it problematic:
- Early on, there is a fight scene between the investigators, who quite possibly don't have any reason to expect any troubles, and several veterans of the Great War who are armed with military weapons. This might very well result in a Total Party Kill (especially if the investigatorshave to fight with improvised weapons, as the book suggests - and fleeing isn't a good strategy, either) - and even if the investigators survive, they will probably start wearing weapons at all times, which is an attidute that should normally be discouraged in CoC adventures.
- Later, there is an artifact that must be activated - either by an investigator or by an NPC - for the adventure to progress. Any experienced investigator (i.e., one who has survived a few adventures involving Mythos artifacts) will probably do his very best to prevent that - and the suggestions presented in the adventure can involve some rather heavy-handed railroading.
- Finally, the worst offender is that the adventure uses a fictional character from a major motion picture basically unaltered (not even bothering to change the name!). I consider this to be a horrible lack of good judgement, and not just because of the possible copyright infringement - that character's mere presence might be enough to blow the players' suspension of disbelief and shatter the proper horror mood. Even more aggravating, this character tags along with the investigators for the second half of the adventure, and threatens to overshadow the investigators at times - which goes against every rule about good adventure design I know. After all, the PCs are supposed to be the stars, and not an GMPC!
Gestohlene Leben (Stolen Lives)
"Tasten sie die
Umgebung ab, stoßen sie auf ein unförmiges Etwas, das die
Straße blockiert..."Compared to Siegfriedslust, Gestohlene Leben follows the traditional outline of Mythos adventures and stories closely. When their bus has a major accident, the investigators are stranded in a remote valley of the Swiss Alps. The natives speak a language none of the investigators is likely to understand, while the reverse isn't true. As the night progresses, they realize that the village they have hidden in has a deep, dark secret. Can they flee before it is too late, and possibly rescue a few innocents along the way?
Just because the story follows a traditional pattern it doesn't mean the adventure is boring. Far from it - the isolation from the rest of the world works perfectly, and the menaces are very creepy. From the beginning, there is a strong sense that something isn't right in this village, and the dread will mount until the night is over. When they escape, the investigators will breathe sighs of beliefs - but are they really safe now?
This adventure will work best as a one-shot, as the investigators are all the passengers who have decided, for one reason or another, to take the same bus across the Alps. Running this for experienced investigators should be possible, but will require some work.
Conclusion
Is Kleine Völker worth your money? That is something up to you to decide. One of the adventures works well as a one-shot. The other one has potential for a good, multi-session pulp adventure - but not without a lot of work on the part of the keeper.Apart from all the game play aspects, there is one thing I was dissapointed with in this book. Both of the main Mythos menaces in this book are new, original creations, rather than one of the classical creatures (though a more traditional type of monster gets a guest appearance in Siegfriedslust). While I understand that inventing new elements of the Mythos is a fine traditions among Mythos writers, I would have preferred if these entities were more tightly interwoven with the main canon. There are plenty of creatures already in the Cthulhu Mythos that could have been behind the legends of the "little people" (witness the brilliant reinterpretation of the Mi-go in Cthulhu 1000 A.D.!), and Kleine Völker misses that opportunity - and thus, in my opinion, fails to live up to its full potential.
If that doesn't bother you, you could do worse than pick this book up.
