Good Georgians Aghast II

Typically, roleplaying games and their supplements set during the Early Modern period like Dark Streets focus on the Elizabethan era or the Golden Age of Piracy or America’s Colonial Era or the American War of Independence. Dark Streets breaks from this tradition, for it is that rare roleplaying supplement—a campaign setting that takes place during the Great Britain’s Georgian period. A supplement for Walton & Cakebread’s Renaissance Deluxe, it is actually quite specific in its setting, for it casts the player characters as members of the Bow Street Runners or their consultants. Each is a Thief Taker, a former outlaw, thief, or watchman, or a clerk, an entertainer, merchant, or preacher, all in service to the magistrate and satirist, Henry Fielding, and his blind brother, John. They investigate the crime, the corruption, and the vice that runs rife through London life. Worse, the Fieldings have begun to suspect that there are malign agents behind the city’s heinous iniquity. For Dark Streets is even more specific in its setting—not only is it about investigating crime and immorality, it is also is also a game of Lovecraftian investigative horror.

Dark Streets specifically begins in 1749 or 1750, not long after Henry Fielding has founded the Bow Street Runners. It is thirty years since the collapse of South Seas Bubble; George II, the second Hanoverian King of England has been on the throne for over twenty years; the Whigs, supporters of the Hanoverians and the aristocracy and tolerant of the religious non-conformists, have been in power for decades; while his younger brother is First Lord of the Treasury and governs the country in the king’s name, the Duke of Newcastle holds the purse strings and routinely buys the loyalty of Members of Parliament; Frederick, the Prince of Wales, actively opposes the Whigs and his father, primarily because the King refuses to support his dissolute lifestyle; and it is only four years since Prince William, the Duke of Cumberland, put down the Jacobite Rising and earned himself the nickname, ‘Butcher Cumberland’. Meanwhile on the streets of London, the rural poor pour into the city in search of work, but find little beyond destitution and disease, even if they do find work. Women find work in the burgeoning sex trade, prostitution being very common, whether in bawdy houses, high class brothels, or for the lucky few, kept as courtesans to the nobility. Other income can be made through crime, the fact that many crimes carry the death penalty or a sentence of transportation to the Americas, an indication that times are hard and the poor are desperate. The worst of the criminals hold court in rookeries like St. Giles, dense dark dank places where even the Bow Street Runners fear to tread. The wealthy and the aristocracy are above such concerns and also the law, though many have their vices, whether gambling, prostitution, the gin that seems to flow from every building, or the Hellfire Clubs where they can indulge in titillation or blasphemy away from prying eyes. Of course, the Society for the Reformation of Manners would do away with all of this, its members actively bringing prosecutions and testimony before London’s magistrates.

In Dark Streets the players take the roles of Bow Street Runners or those serving as Consultants to the Fielding brothers. Either choice restricts the Social Class and Professions that a player can select. In addition to skill points gained from his Social Class, Profession, and Free Skill points, a Bow Street Runner investigator receives extra skill points to spend on physical and combat skills as well as a badge of office, a small club with a gilt crown on it.

Our sample character is Tobias Perdue, the son of Sir Thomas Perdue, a wealthy landowner who purchased a place at university for his son to read the law. It was there that Tobias first got caught up in the wrong crowd, gambling and whoring for the first time. Although he graduated and was accepted to the bar, his profligacy would soon land him in trouble—he ran up debts that would lead his father to disown him and almost land him in debtor’s gaol, and saw him fight duels to protect his ‘good’ name. These days he rarely practices the law and is more circumspect about his habits—there are better card players in the capital than himself. He is a Bow Street Runner at Henry Fielding’s suggestion as the magistrate believes he will bring some manners to the rough men that he has in his employ.

Adventurer: Tobias Perdue
Nationality: English Age: 28
Homeland: England Gender: Male
Social Class: Gentry Profession: Rook
Family:
Connections: Political Affiliation: Whig

Righteousness 
Righteousness Points: 54
Faction: Bow Street Runners Faction Zeal: 25

STR: 11 CON: 14 SIZ: 15 INT: 17
POW: 15 DEX: 16 CHA: 14
Damage Modifier: +1D4 Combat Order: 14
Movement: 15 metres

Armour
Type: Buff Coat AP: 2/1

Hit Points
Maximum: 15 Current: 15
Major Wound Level: 8

Sanity Points
Maximum: 15 Current: 15
Major Insanity Level: 8

Basic Skills:
Athletics  37%, Close Combat  58%, Culture (Own) 64%, Dance  40%, Dodge  62%, Drive  33%, Evaluate  61%, First Aid  33%, Gun Combat  33%, Influence  73%, Insight  77%, Lore (England) 64%, Perception  62%, Persistence  40%, Ranged Combat  33%, Resilience  28%, Ride  41%, Sing  29%, Sleight  55%, Stealth  33%, Unarmed Combat 37%

Advanced Skills:
Art (Prose Writing) 29%, Beliefs (Bow Street Runners) 59%, Disguise 31%, Commerce 31%, Courtesy 61%, Gambling 62%, Language (English) 81%, Language (French) 41%, Language (Latin) 41%, Language (Thieves’ Cant) 31%, Oratory 51%, Lore (Law) 54%, Lore (Law) 64%, Seduction 61%, Streetwise 50%

An extensive overview is provided of London as well as period maps. The overview covers the current social and political situation, religion, science, medicine, entertainment, and newspapers, but its primary focus is the law, crime and punishment, and vice and morality. The period maps support a gazetteer that details inner London and its most notable personages, from George II and the Duke of Newcastle down… A whole gang is described as is a Thieves’ Cant glossary, the latter nicely adding verisimilitude.

One of the interesting mechanics in Renaissance Deluxe is that of ‘Factions’, which handles a player character’s or an NPC’s allegiance to either himself or an organisation and its strength. Dark Streets adds gangs, the Bow Street Runners, the Jacobites, New Puritans, Tories, and Whigs as well as malignant Factions from aristocratic dinning clubs and murder clubs up to Mythos cults.

Dark Streets’ treatment of the Cthulhu Mythos is simple, unfussy, and straightforward. Magic is treated like witchcraft and cultists much like witches, the spells of the Mythos being kept generic. A few Mythos tomes are detailed, but unlike later periods of Lovecraftian investigative horror, books of the Mythos are not really a major element in Dark Streets. It keeps its Mythos ‘bestiary’ relatively short—just nine creatures and four gods, though some of the entries do feel a little exotic considering Dark Streets’ earthier feel. Of course, this being the Mythos and both Dark Streets and Renaissance Deluxe being Basic Roleplaying compatible, it is easy for the GM to find material to add to his campaign.

In terms of scenarios, Dark Streets is well supported, in fact it is better supported than Renaissance Deluxe itself in this regard. Nearly twenty scenario hooks are given, each relatively detailed and pleasingly, not all of them involving the Mythos. The supplement’s main scenario, ‘Gin & St. Giles’ is a detailed affair that draws the investigators deep into London’s worst Rookery on the trail of the worst gin the city—and that in London, is no mean feat. It is a solid adventure that should provide a session or two’s worth of play.

Physically, Dark Streets can be described as dour. Done in black and grey, it is perhaps a little oppressive in its look. The layout is for the most part workmanlike, but it grows wayward in places. In terms of content, the supplement is in places succinct. For example, although the book comes with a detailed overview of London and its life, vices, and personalities, its timeline ends in 1749 with the founding of the Bow Street Runners. This leaves the GM not knowing what will happen next unless he conducts some research himself, which seems odd given that Dark Streets is a historical game bar the influences of the Mythos. Also, as much background detail as there is in the book, it does lack advice in terms of setting up and running a campaign involving the Bow Street Runners. One hand-out that would be useful is a sheet detailing pertinent facts about London and what exactly the duties and powers of a Bow Street Runner are. After all, they are nothing like the police of later centuries.

The Dark Streets setting has the advantage of familiarity—at least from film and television, such as The Madness of King George (though this is set forty years later) or the television series Garrow’s Law and City of Vice. The latter in particular is useful watching since it is about the Fieldings and their establishing of the Bow Street Runners. Indeed, after watching City of Vice, it would be hard for the GM not to portray Henry Fielding as Ian McDiarmid and John Fielding as Iain Glen. Similarly, the Cthulhu Mythos will be familiar to many players, as will the processes of Lovecraftian investigative horror. Here though, as with many settings before Cthulhu by Gaslight and classic Call of Cthulhu, those processes involve less of a paper trail and more detective legwork, although that is beginning to change…

Dark Streets lacks the polish of other RPG settings of Lovecraftian investigative horror. It is a little rough around the edges, perhaps not as developed as it could be. Nevertheless, it is solid and accessible, presenting a fairly pulpy take upon investigating the Mythos whilst possessing an earthier tone that matches the vice, venality, and corruption of the setting.

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A Restricted Dig

The Archaeologist's Handbook: A Guide to Archaeology for Roleplaying Games is a curious beast. It reads in part like a supplement for Call of Cthulhu, but is not written for that RPG despite the significance of that role in both the RPG and the fiction that inspired it. It also reads and feels like one of the Miskatonic University Library Association monographs that Chaosium, Inc. publishes in support of its primary RPG, Call of Cthulhu, but is instead published by Innsmouth House Press, an imprint of the website, yog-sothoth.com, which is specifically devoted to all things Lovecraftian, role playing in particular... Thus it feels like it should be a Call of Cthulhusupplement, but is not, and it feels like it should have been published by Chaosium, but was not.

So the questions arise, just what is The Archaeologist's Handbook: A Guide to Archaeology for Roleplaying Games, and who is it written for? As the title suggests, its presents an examination of the study and practice of Archaeology, its history, notable techniques, a discussion of noteworthy proponents of the science, as well as sites and forgeries, and so on, with the aim of making this information useable by roleplayers. In the main it covers the Victorian period, the 1920s, and the roughly contemporary here and now – the three eras that dominate Lovecraftian investigative horror.

The history begins in the antiquities before coming up to speed with archaeology’s founding as a field of study and its practise since the eighteenth century. Although it comes up to the modern day, it is a pity that it does not cover the rise in popularity for all things archaeological in the wake of television coverage – essentially the Time Team effect. Thus it covers both the Grand Tour and the research conducted in Egypt during Napoleon’s occupation; the archaeological scholarship that would lay the foundations for Darwin’s theory of evolution and the Ordnance Survey work that would reveal much of Great Britain’s hidden history; and how archaeology has moved from the province of the scholarly gentleman and his wealthy patron to the aegis of museum, university, and government. Numerous techniques used to dig and excavate a site are described, as are various means of scientifically dating a site and its finds. This is followed by descriptions and histories of some of the world’s more notable museums along with some of their exhibits. None of these are covered in extensive detail, but the balance is about between having enough information to make use of in-game and having enough to serve as pointers should further research be required. Of more practical use is the guide to actually running an archaeological excavation which gets into the logistics of the affair, period by period.

Up until this point, the tone The Archaeologist's Handbookis a little dry and technical, but this changes with a discussion of infamous fakes and forgeries, such as Glozel and The Cardiff Giant. The lighter tone continues as the book begins to support its roleplaying aspect – for example, each notable site, from Stonehenge and Pompeii to Petra and Great Zimbabwe is accompanied by a juicy plot hook that a referee could easily develop into something playable. It is a pity though, that the array of notable sites and accompanying plot hooks ignores Asia. Rounding out The Archaeologist's Handbookare some diary entries that nicely capture the life of an archaeologist in each of the book’s three eras, a list of notable archaeologists – none are given stats though, and a list of possible equipment for each era.

Although not written specifically for Call of Cthulhu, the contents of The Archaeologist's Handbook are probably more applicable to that game than any other. After all, the archaeologist is one of the game's signature Occupations, which means that Call of Cthulhu players and Keepers alike will probably get the most out of the book’s contents. Plus there is plenty of evidence in the book to suggest that it was written with Call of Cthulhu in mind. In particular, it focuses upon the RPG’s three core eras – the Victorian period, the Jazz Age of the 1920s, and the modern day, plus the sample NPCs its provides for each era are written up in a fashion that apes Call of Cthulhucharacters rather than matches them exactly. Thus you have Stamina instead of Constitution, Willpower instead of Power, Library Usage rather than Library Use, Take Notice rather than Spot Hidden, and so on. Adapting any one of the three NPCs to Call of Cthulhu, Cubicle Seven Entertainment’s The Laundry RPG, or any Basic Roleplay RPG is anything other than a challenge. That said, given the fact that both skills and the stats for all three characters are expressed as percentile figures actually makes them more compatible with the forthcomingCall of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition rather than the current Call of Cthulhu, Sixth Edition. Adapting the characters to Pelgrane Press’ Trail of Cthulhu or RealityBlurs, Inc.’s Realms of Cthulhu is more challenging, but certainly within the bounds of possibility.

The Archaeologist's Handbook comes a seventy-six page A5 sized spiral bound book. This format makes it easy to flip through and read, the former necessary due to the lack of an index. That said, the format does not withstand much in the way of handling, and perhaps a plastic cover could have been included for the back cover as well as the front. The book is illustrated throughout with a range of black and white drawings and photographs, all of them appropriately selected. It is a pity that the book does not come with any maps as subject matter certainly lends itself to those. The writing is a also perhaps a little dry in places, but once the author begins to talk about sites and museums and forgeries, she warms to her subject and is more engaging. Still the book could have done with a closer edit.

More of an issue is that The Archaeologist's Handbook is underdeveloped in places. As a consequence its stance is strongly Anglophile in places. This is understandable given that the author is English, but that does mean that this guide to playing an archaeologist is tailored to English characters. Given that the Call of Cthulhu playing audience for this book is primarily American, it would have been useful if the author had been able to present information on how to play an American archaeologist, let alone say a French or German one.

Where The Archaeologist's Handbook is at its weakest is the fact that it is a generic supplement. Had it been specifically written for Call of Cthulhu then it could have better explored its subject and thus have better applied it to excavating the Mythos. Or least reference any one of the innumerable scenarios written for that the game that involve Archaeology or an Archaeological dig of some kind. Whether that is “The Clive Expedition” from Chaosium, Inc.'s Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep, TOME's Glozel est Authentique, and “Darkness, Descending” from Cubicle Seven Entertainment's Cthulhu Britanniaanthology. Of course, it could also have covered how to create an Archaeologist character in each of RPG’s three core eras.

Had it been allowed to develop that much further – with maps and more scope than its current Anglophile stance as well as applied its subject to Lovecraftian investigative horror, then there is no doubt that this supplement could have been a very useful sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu. Despite these limitations, there is no denying that The Archaeologist's Handbook: A Guide to Archaeology for Roleplaying Games is a meaty introduction to its subject – and is thus of use to players and Keeper referee alike.

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Green & Unpleasant Land

Ian Edginton is no stranger to the Cosmic Horror that is the hallmark of the Cthulhu Mythos, his most notable contribution (with artist I.N.J. Culbard), being the graphic novel adaptation of Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness. With his latest stories, Ampney Crucis Investigates…, he dabbles and hints at the Mythos rather than drawing directly from Lovecraft’s works, just as he did with 2003’s Leviathan. As with Leviathan, these new tales originally appeared in the British weekly comic, 2000 AD and are now collected into volume of their own.

Ampney Crucis Investigates… Vile Bodies introduces us to Ampney Crucis, upstanding member of the British nobility (and not a small village in the Cotswolds) and Eddie Cromwell, Crucis’ stalwart man servant. Once tipped for high things, a strange otherworldly encounter in No-Man’s Land during the Great War, tipped him into temporary madness from which he has since recovered. The encounter has also left him with both a sense for the outré and a certain strength to withstand its malign power. A decade onwards and Lord Crucis is drawn to investigating the occult as its insidious influence infects dissolutely the Green and Pleasant Land that he holds so dear.

Ampney Crucis Investigates… Vile Bodies contains two cases, the titular story being the first in which Crucis must come to the aid of Lady Calliope Wykes, once his fiancée, but now driven from her home by the overripe advances of her husband. The second story, “The End of the Pier Show,” sends Crucis to a Northern seaside resort gone all to hell after his Lordship’s man Crowell, receives a postcard from a friend he saw shot dead during the Great War. Of the two stories, “Vile Bodies” feels very much the pilot, being a straightforward horror tale whose apian fecundity suggests at the influence of Shub-Niggurath. “The End of the Pier Show” is where the author and artist, Simon Davis, begin to really enjoy themselves, whether it is Crucis’ quartet of maiden aunts being depicted as the United Kingdom’s leading acting dames of the twenty-first century or hinting at the seediness underlying the polite façade of a seaside town with an artistic nod to the saucy postcards of Donald McGill. The threat faced is less obviously Lovecraftian, much more open to interpretation, but far more grounded in the woes of the period.

As the hero of the piece, Ampney Crucis draws from a familiar British archetype – the upper class twit with his resourceful servant. He is in part Dorothy L. Sayers’ Lord Peter Wimsey and P.G. Wodehouse’s Bertie Wooster, but Crucis is no fool, and Cromwell no urbane Jeeves, but rather more akin to Parker of Thunderbirds. Initially and outwardly, the pair do feel like the stereotypes that the author draws from, but by placing them in dire circumstances, their polite façade drops and they become more comradely with each other, lifting their portrayal out of caricature.

Simon Davis’ rich illustrations capture the delineation between the threats and the threatened. The inhabitants of dissolute England are pallid and wain, whilst the threats that Crucis and Cromwell must face are painted in swathes of rich colour.

The characters and situations of Ampney Crucis Investigates… would work as easily in print as on the radio – the latter perhaps the only other medium where its colours could be as rich – helped as much by our familiarity with its characters as its situations. There are certainly and hopefully, more of his Lordship’s investigations to be told of and collected, as the tales in Vile Bodies are most entertaining. That they are not overly Lovecraftian should not dissuade the reader, for these delightfully place manners against monstrosities.

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