Review of The Sassoon Files

The Sassoon Files will be familiar to some as the RPG book that was banned and burned by Chinese censors. That's a shame not just for the damage done to its publishers and prospects, but also because The Sassoon Files doesn't need scandal or notoriety to recommend it to RPG players. This is a China-focused sourcebook for Cthulhu Mythos RPGs of unparalleled depth and detail. The best-known comparison I can think of is the Shanghai section of Masks of Nyarlathotep, but even there the level of detail in The Sassoon Files far outweighs that classic campaign. The Masks of Nyarlathotep Companion does get closer to a commensurate wealth of historical and cultural detail, but still falls short of The Sassoon Files.

It's instructive to see how The Sassoon Files stands up alongside Masks of Nyarlathotep, which in its original 1984 edition was distinguished by occasionally Sax Rohmer-esque superficiality, inaccuracy, and caricature in its portrayal of the various cultures along its globetrotting route. Frankly, you'd think that a house and a pedigree that had produced such superb cross-cultural explorations as Runequest could have done better, but no. The Sassoon Files is some recompense for that clunking past error in taste and sensitivity. I can't imagine unprejudiced Chinese gamers, as opposed to hypersensitive PRC censors, being offended for one moment by its portrayal of the history and society of the time. As an Old China Hand with 12 years in Greater China under my belt, I haven't noticed a single inaccuracy or solecism. As the Introduction explains, "The Sassoon Files were originally developed and played as long-term campaigns by several groups of gamers living in the People's Republic of China. The contributing authors are all members of the China RPG gaming community." There's even an excellent "Note About Chinese Investigators," posing the question "Can you play a Chinese investigator if you are not Chinese?" and then explaining how to do it, as well as notes on "A Time of Extreme Racism and Colonialism," and the educative value of playing through such a setting. This isn't an exercise in virtue signalling, though, but a juicy and flavourful roleplaying compendium that packs an immense amount into its 208 pages.

The Sassoon Files is superbly double-statted for for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition and GUMSHOE-based systems, especially Trail of Cthulhu, and playable out of the box for both without further conversion. The book comprises four related scenarios which can be played alone or "can stand together as the basis of an entire campaign set in the Shanghai of the '20s." The production values are excellent, with many sepia period photographs and occasional colour plates, and CoC 7th edition stats picked out in magenta. Maps are detailed, colourful and superb. Above all, there's a colossal amount of material on the social, political and cultural history of Shanghai in the 1920s, which gives full play to the rich multicultural environment of the period without exonerating colonialism or reducing the Chinese to bit-players in their own country. There's even an excellent section on Shanghai jazz.

In case you're worried that playability and fun get swamped by this weight of historical detail, don't be. The four scenarios are very well written, well geared to the Chinese context, and suitably nasty in parts. Much space is given to adapting period institutions, clubs and societies, and historical figures to roleplaying, and the use of Victor Sassoon himself, one of the richest and most influential leaders of inter-war Shanghai, as the lynchpin for the campaign is a masterstroke. Other real-world personalities crop up regularly in the scenarios, as well as lovingly realized and fully statted fictional NPCs of every nationality and background. I'm not sure if it's the bravura use of a resurrected Ci Xi, last Manchu empress dowager of China, as a nemesis that offended the PRC censors, but she certainly adds a touch of flair to an already dazzling campaign.

Any future historical RPG setting that doesn't live up to this level of accuracy, detail, respect, and sheer zest for its material will have a lot of explaining to do. Recommended.