Review of Death in Luxor

******Minor Spoilers**********

Death in Luxor is a Goodman Games adventure for 1920's era Call of Cthulhu using the BRP rules by Chaosium.  The module is the first of Goodman's new "Age of Cthulhu" line of adventures and it will be available from your FLGS in December.

Summary: Set in 1926, it concerns a University of Chicago expedition to Luxor, Egypt that has excavated the mortuary temple of Ramesses III.  After uncovering the 3000 year old tomb they were haunted by the sights and dreams of the horrors they found and their minds snapped.   

The adventure begins with the investigators flying into Luxor, asked to visit by their colleague on the premise of visiting a successful expedition.  There is a horrible storm that is buffeting the ancient city and by the time the investigators arrive it is already too late and the Professor and his entire team are already dead.  They are greeted on the tarmac by the local police who are determined to send the Americans back the way they came.  On visiting the expedition's headquarters, a mansion known as "the Chicago House", they discover a gruesome mass murder has just taken place.  The investigators must rush to gather elaborate clues before another troop of police arrive to investigate the crime.  The group must then  track down the survivors and follow up on multi-branching clues to unravel what happened, and what is about to happen.  They follow the clues through the dirty back streets of Luxor, possibly back to the Chicago House, and out into the excavation while being pursued and hindered by several interested parties.  The adventure ends as all Call of Cthulhu scenarios should, with a dangerous ritual and either the destruction of the investigators or the staving off of an ancient horror.  As the author adds in his conclusion, "as in any authentic Call of Cthulhu saga, these two endings are not mutually exclusive", and he's really not kidding. 

The characters and plots are noted to lead into later Age of Cthulhu adventures.

The Physical Product: It is 48 pages total with 37 pages of scenario with appropriate and interesting artwork and maps, 6 pages of hand outs, and 5 pages of pregens.  Sample stories are provided with the pre-generated characters that tie them to the scenario, but it is not dependent on these pregens.  It is a black and white interior, including artwork and maps.  The maps and artwork are well done and add to the feel of the scenario.  The maps are very pretty and functionally useful and I hope that we would eventually see color maps on the website.

The "Feel":
It is a free form event based investigation with several fixed locations that can be visited in any order.  The events are clear in their relationships and well laid out and the keeper can flip easily from one to the next as necessary.  The adventure is focused heavily on investigation, however while the scenario discusses that the crafty investigators may never need to resort to violence, the opposing cultists and Mythos agents would beg to differ.  Violence is very likely but it appears it could possibly be completed by luck, thorough investigation, and knowing when to flee. This is definitely not a dungeon crawl. 

The scenario is very graphic in places and treats murder and violence in a more gritty way than previous publishers.  There are graphic murders and several suicides, even before the Mythos presents itself fully.   Some areas of description are uneven in tone, but the sections that drive the plot are very well done.

There is a definite tip of the hat to several classic investigations (Masks,  Shadows, etc), but it still seems fresh and original.  My suspicion is that this is stage one in something of the scope and feel of Shadows of Yog-Sothoth, but that is pure speculation.  If that is the case, I think this line will be superior to that classic investigation.

The Crunch:
The clues are cleverly placed and interesting and they each provide multiple avenues of investigation which is very useful with novice investigators.  There is a deeper layer and some very tricky elements that will reward veteran investigators as well. The flavor text is very cinematic, especially at the beginning as the storm builds and the murders are discovered, and it helps build the appropriate tension and mood.    There should also be an award presented for most interesting use of accounting skill and best multi clue placement using severed fingers.

The author presents an optional system to represent more difficult skill tests, for example (Sneak, -5%).  At first it seems clever and an effective way to balance skill tests, but I think it becomes cumbersome in a system that can practically be played diceless.  So your mileage may vary depending on your play style. 

The author also presents an encounter to insert should the investigation grind to a halt.  Every scenario should have this element and it is very interesting and effective.

There are some distracting oddities like, "Tall windows flank a pair of elaborate wooden great doors, and – strangely – the courtyard is nearly overrun with frogs of all sizes" and the frogs are never further described or explained.

My biggest disappointment was the missing infomation about the culture and landmarks of the city of Luxor.  The city should have very easily been another character in the story.  The alienness and flavor of 1926 Egypt is seriously missing.  The fact that the locals should speak Arabic is never touched upon.  I would think the Cairo Guidebook from Chaosium would fill in those gaps.

Value: For 2-3 nights of gaming at $12.99, I would consider this a very good value.  Accessible and useful for both novice and experienced investigators.

Rating:  4 out of 5 stars.  The storyline, investigation, and excellent presentation make it easy to overlook the things I nitpicked above.