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The fundamental premise many Call of Cthulhu and Trail of Cthulhu adventures often is heroic adventurers race across the globe to stop some unspeakable horror from rising up or breaking into our dimension which will be cause the catalyst of events that starts the clock ticking down to the apocalypse – the End Times. The cost to the player characters is that they may die or go insane. But, all this is worth it in vain effort of keeping the candle of hope alive and stave the darkness from falling. It is this premise and the deep-seated tension of investigation and foreboding doom that makes Cthulhu games hugely popular rather than just acquisition of stuff (including knowledge that is the sure path to insanity) and getting more levels. So Cthulhu games are not for everyone. It is an acquired taste but can be refined into two basic categories – Purist (where the world is doomed and there is nothing that the party can do but offset the End Times momentarily) and Pulp (where the world is doomed and there is nothing the party can do but try to fight it off so that it might happen on a Friday rather than Monday).

The new Trail of Cthulhu adventure, Dead White World, begins with an interesting premise – the world, as the players know it, did indeed end 2nd of November 1936…and indeed it was a Monday…the players ought to be dead but have miraculously survived by virtue of being unconscious (although that is not entirely true) when the apocalypse struck. With a definite nod to John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids, the world has fallen under the spell of innocuous white flowers which consume humans from the inside out.

It is across this bleak landscape, investigators are charged with finding out what has happened and why they were spared. Needless, to say, they are part of a larger intrigue although, providentially, the players do not wake up at the end of the scenario – it is a dark, cold, grim world. Although, I can see that as a possibility occurring at a later junction…for this adventure is part of a larger series appropriately called Cthulhu Apocalypse. So, the destruction of Brisbane by a rampaging squid-dragon thing may yet be in the Stars.

The adventure moves along swiftly, as key clues move the players from locale to locale effortlessly. The puzzles presented are not terribly difficult but indeed keep the level of anxiety and dread high enough that players will not get bored. Playing in a post-apocalyptic 1930s Britain was interesting and the author has managed to capture magnificently the somewhat surreal ambience of the time (the banality of Cosy catastrophes) whilst giving a distinctly modern feel – channelling elements from movies like 28 Days Later or the BBC reboot of The Day of the Triffids whilst still keeping a Cthulhu-oid feeling.

The end, when it comes, is rather cathartic and comes as a relief although, selfish players may not see the need for it – it remains classically Lovecraftian in its execution. Pelgrane has maintained its high standard of artwork this time featuring the work of Alessandro Alaia who maintains the high principles of Jerome (still find Jerome’s work superior). The writing is clear and concise and Pelgrane has done a great job in the layout – breaking the adventure down into three manageable scenarios.

The only drawbacks which is a reoccurring problem with Trail of Cthulhu adventures is that the player character sheets are all clumped together rather than existing as independent handouts. Also, the challenge of running Trail of Cthulhu gets easier as one reads more adventures but I would pity the first-time Keeper picking up this product or Keeper who has only earned her/his stripes by playing BRP. More work in gently explaining the adventure would be helpful. As it does provide for a globe spanning adventure but this one can easily operate as a standalone. All in all, an excellent adventure and does provide a very different “Cthulhu experience” guaranteed to jolt even the most experienced of players.

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