A Quick Note

Just before I start, I just want to say that this is a combination of a review of the game, and a playtest review of the first game I played with it.

It is also worth noting that all Forgotten Futures supplmements, as well as the core rules, are free online from their website at http://www.forgottenfutures.com

The Game Itself

A while back, while I was flipping through the free RPGs offered on rpg.net, I came upon Forgotten Futures. Curious, I followed to link and found the site. I found that one of the supplements for it was set around the Carnacki the Ghost Finder Stories by William Hope Hodgson. I looked it over, and I liked it. Then I saw the card game that they had designed for either a plot device or a stand alone game. And that's where the fun began.

Looking at it, I found out that this was no run of the mill card game. It was a "Storytelling" card game, in which the object was to create a gothic, Victorian horror story using the words on the cards that you had in your hand.

Ah yes, the cards. The cards use words and phrases taken from three of the Carnaki stories. They are written on to decks of normal playing cards with seperate backs. There is a list on the site of which cards have which words or phrases on them, and you write them on the cards.

The writing part is the most annoying aspect of a game I have ever had to participate in. It took me some pain staking effort and about two days to get the 104 cards all marked up. But it was worth it.

The Playtest

I first introduced the game to my group at school. Although only one other person showed up, the two of us spent one of our most enjoyable lunch hours sitting around developing a story with the cards.

It started with the two of us drawing our 5 card hands. We set down the one card each that we wanted to begin the story with, and then we flipped a coin to see who went first. I did.

So it began with the main character walking down the darkened streets of some English town when he came upon a ruined chapel. The chapel had a legend surrounding it that it was an unholy spot in which dwealt an insane priest. The character cautiously opened the door and saw a huge mass of vacume tubes forming an Electric Pentagram (it's something from the Carnacki stories, you really have to read them to understand, but to make a long story short it's basically a machine in the shape of a pentagram that emits an EM field that keeps spirits out).

Then he was attacked by the made priest, but managed to get away into the graveyard, where he was attacked by zombies and somehow managed to fend them off with a gun of some sort.

Then he woke up. He went off to breakfast with a feeling of dread and as he was walking along the streets, he was attacked by a monster and banished it to the otherworlds with his magic ring.

And that was about when we ran out of cards and had to finish the game up.

The game was a bit wacky, but it was very enjoyable and gave us more experience so that we can play it better next time.

Conclusion

Well, Carnacki is a very amusing game that requires a lot of imagination and about an hour or so to play. Having read it and enjoyed it, I look forward to downloading and playing the other Forgotten Future supplements (as well as the main system itself).

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)