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In terms of artwork, the book has been extremely well thought-out. A Keeper’s map of London gives all of the main locations used by the adventures in that city, while there is also a large-scale map of the city suitable for giving the players a basic orientation. A more useful, removable London street map is also included, although my second-hand copy unfortunately lacked this. Best of all is a three-page fold-out map of southern England showing counties, railway lines, and sea-routes, which will be particularly useful, as two of the adventures in the book require a large amount of moving around the country.
The illustrations are more of a mixed bag. The cover shows a part of a Mythos beastie, and works quite well while not giving anything away regarding the book’s contents. Most of the buildings likely to be entered by investigators are provided with plans. There are several well-done illustrations of scenes from the adventures, which are suitably atmospheric and could be shown to players during the game. The NPC illustrations are more disappointing, as, being somewhat cartoonish, they lack the effect that some of the best examples of the genre, such as those in “Escape From Innsmouth”, can produce. Personally, I don’t buy RPG books for the artwork, so this is a minor concern at best.
The book begins with a one-page introductory chapter, most of which is taken up with an explanation of 1890s investigators. This contains two useful pointers which should be made clear to the players before they begin character creation. The first is that class is everything in 1890s Britain, and that the adventures are designed to be played with higher-class characters, as many doors will stay closed to lower-class investigators. The second pointer is that Credit Rating is perhaps more important in the Victorian era than any other, and while having a good Credit Rating may be a great advantage, it makes losing Credit Rating something of a hardship. This should help to keep investigator actions within the bounds of taste and decency. The introduction concludes with a few words of advice to the Keeper, sensibly emphasising the importance of investigation over combat, and of building up to preternatural occurrences.
Following the introduction, and taking up the vast bulk of the page-count, are the adventures themselves, which will be discussed in turn.
Eyes For The Blind is the opening segment of the two-part campaign, and at 39 pages can be counted as something of an epic. It is suggested that this be used with investigators who have already gained some experience. To this I would add that it will probably be suitable for experienced players, given the level of danger which investigators will be exposed to. The adventure begins with a bizarre murder, witnessed by the investigators, on a train, and rapidly sees them chasing across southern England while being assailed by a variety of adversaries. The adventure reads like a curious mixture of Conan Doyle, Hammer Horror, British mythology, and some nastier modern horror elements. However, it seems to hang together well, and should surprise even hardened Cthulhu players. Those of you with players of the “we don’t go anywhere, we don’t inherit anything, and we definitely don’t read any books!”-school will be pleased to find that the investigators are forced into acting. Indeed, by the conclusion of the adventure there are dire consequences for not having done enough. I consider the money I spent on the book to be pretty well justified just by this opening chapter.
The Menace From Sumatra is rather a change from what has gone before. Not only is the action entirely contained within London, but it is also suitable for beginning players. One of the adventure’s aims is to introduce the players to the workings of Victorian London, and the Victorian era in general. This makes it a good choice as the opener to a campaign. As with “Eyes For The Blind”, the investigators witness an unusual death, this time in a police station (having been caught up in a police sweep following a political demonstration – good circumstances for bringing a diverse party together). Soon they find that the tangled, cosmopolitan streets of London, being the heart of a global empire, can harbour the strangest things. Many aspects of the adventure are designed to be tailored by the Keeper. For example, there is a good chance that at least one investigator will suffer a grisly end, unless a route to salvation is utilised by the Keeper. I feel that this adventure strikes a nice balance between introducing new players while setting enough of a challenge to keep more experienced players interested.
Lord Of The Dance can be run as an independent adventure with minimal alteration by the Keeper, but is really intended to be the companion-piece to “Eyes For The Blind”, completing the book’s mini-campaign. It soon proves to be a worthy sequel, with a similar mix of British myth, Cthulhu Mythos, and travel around the southern part of Britain. Furthermore, an opponent from “Eyes For The Blind” returns, a fact which can be exploited to the full by enterprising Keepers to create a truly satisfying adversary. Starting off low-key, with an acquaintance of the investigators suffering a crisis, the adventure builds in intensity to a powerful conclusion. In order to reach this conclusion, the investigators will once again visit a variety of places in southern England, including Cornwall and Essex in addition to the more familiar London locations. As with the first part of the campaign, there are some great perils to the investigators, and at least one point where a foolhardy player should fully expect his character’s obliteration. Together with “Eyes For The Blind”, this is the best published Gaslight-era scenario I have read.
Following the adventures, “Dark Designs” features a two-page guide to creating suitable investigator characters, and a basic rundown of Victorian weapons. This is followed by a section of detachable pages, mostly the handouts from the adventures and the aforementioned London streetmap. A nice touch is that the character creation guide and weapons list are reproduced here, so that they can be handed to the players, speeding up the creation process. Also useful is the provision of a small bibliography of fiction and non-fiction sources at the end of each adventure, which may make interesting background reading for the Keeper.
As with my review of “Sacraments of Evil”, the other 1890s adventure-book, the scarcity of Gaslight material makes “Dark Designs” an essential purchase for any Cthulhu Keeper interested in the period. “Dark Designs” is likely to be of less interest to Keepers with campaigns in the 1920s, however: while conversion would be quite simple, I feel that the adventures here really need the “feel” of the Victorian era to be fully effective.
In conclusion, “Dark Designs” is a must-have for a Keeper who wants to run 1890s games. Furthermore, while I feel that the adventures would loose something by being converted to the 1920s, the inventiveness and quality of “Eyes For The Blind” and “Lord Of The Dance” will be appreciated by Keepers of any stripe.
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