Massachusetts 1920s – Call of Cthulhu 7e – Campaign Index

[A lovely cheesecake created by two of my players]

Since it’s Halloween I thought it appropriate to post (finally!) the index for my 7th edition Call of Cthulhu campaign.

The campaign actually has been on hiatus for several months now. I’m not entirely sure when I’ll return to it, as I’m focused more on my Middle-earth campaign right now, and a friend is planning on running the Laundry RPG soon. But since the Cthulhu campaign did go quite well (only one character death!) and was a lot of fun, it would be a pity if I didn’t finish the scenario summaries and post links to everything related to it on this blog.

So here is the index (to be updated when I post the final summaries)…

7th Edition (‘non-campaign’) posts:

·       Some initial impressions of the 7^th edition of Call of Cthulhu.

·       I ran the ‘one-shot’ adventure ‘Missed Dues’ at the 2016 Loz Con.

The Investigators:

• Bertrand Smyth. Lecturer in Archaeology. Originally from London.

o       Visiting lecturer at Harvard University (1922-23); permanent lecturer at Miskatonic University (1923+).

o       Specializes in Ancient Greece.

o       A veteran of the Great War.

o       Cousin of Stephen Knott (property-owner and collector of rare artefacts).

o       A bit of a ‘fuddy-duddy’ (dresses in an unstylish Edwardian manner).

• Max Brewster. Private Investigator. Bostonian (originally from Lowell MA).

o       A forty-ish, slightly greasy, gumshoe.

o       A specialist in dodgy divorce cases.

o       Plenty of street smarts, but little formal education.

• Helen Tilton. Freelance photographer and journalist.

o       Originally from Toronto.

o       Sometimes works for the Boston Globe.

o       Has Marxist sympathies.

• Kellen Tilton. Football coach at Miskatonic University.

o       Originally from Toronto.

o       Brother of Helen.

o       A veteran of the Great War.

The Massachusetts scenarios:

Except for the first one (which is a classic that has been around since the beginning of CoC), all of the adventures that I ran for this campaign are new for the 7th edition. After the each summary I provide some general reflections on the adventure.

·       The Haunting (September 1922).

·       Dead Light (late November 1922).

·       Blackwater Creek (September 1923). [Summary coming soon.]

·       Crimson Letters (October 1924). [Summary coming soon-ish.]

Happy Halloween!

Blade Runner 2049 is very good

So I just saw Blade Runner 2049. Here are some immediate reactions (no spoilers!):

·       It’s very good. I give it a 9.7 out of 10.

·       But…it’s not as good as the original (well, maybe as good as the initial theatrical release, the one with cheesy voice-over and the tacked-on happy ending, but not as good as either the ‘Director’s Cut’ or the ‘Final Cut’).

·       While not as good as the original, Blade Runner 2049 nonetheless builds interestingly on the original; it does not detract from the power of the original by ‘ruining’ elements of the world (so think ‘Aliens’ not ‘Highlander 2’).

·       It’s visually stunning. In this respect, it is equal to the original (though of course that’s not a fair comparison, given the greater budget and technical power available for the sequel). 

·       The world-creation is amazing—just as it was in the original, but the new film expands the world in interesting ways by going places (geographically, intellectually, and visually) that the original did not.

·       The acting is uniformly excellent.

·       The story is compelling. Perhaps there are some holes, but nothing leapt out at me while watching the film.

·       The music is good, but not quite the equal of the original Vangelis score. Towards the end of the film it became slightly distracting.

So overall it’s a great film. See it! As a sequel, though, it doesn’t quite capture the ‘lightning in a bottle’ of the original. But it is a very worthy follow-up. I certainly plan to watch it again soon…